What The Heck Are You Going To Do?

“Apocalyptic movie settings” is a good way to describe pictures of cities around the world at the moment. For some it will feel like being in the middle of a war movie; for others the ‘Titanic’ may be a movie which they are relating to at the moment.

So what the heck to do?

Many people will have done the Stop. Breathe. Don’t panic. Breathe some more. Plan.

It is at the planning stage that it is so tricky. Plan for what? Plan how far ahead? How fluid should the plan be? If it is too fluid why bother planning at all?

At the risk of adding to the plethora of information and advice that exists for “How to manage the unknown and this new normal that we seem to find ourselves in”, I have five thoughts that I believe will be useful.

1. Unsurprisingly, my first thought for you to consider is: What is your mindset? “You will reap what you sow” is a saying many of us are familiar with. The flip side, of course, is that we sow what we reap. Ensure then that you are filling your mind with more positive, proactive, helpful and good news than the avalanche of bad news that can be accessed every day.

2. Next, surround yourself with good people. This is doubly important if you lead teams. You need to have particular people that you can share your thoughts, your worries and your concerns with. You need to get their input and perspective and wisdom. When sharing with team members, be positive while realistic - many of them will be looking to you for stability, encouragement and the hope that it is all going to be OK and we will get through to the other side. Those people filling the mentor-like role will support you to have the strength and courage to feed the best messages to your team about the forward path.

3. You need a plan. A plan gives confidence: it gives purpose and it gives direction. This means that you are far more likely to make good use of your time than if you are waiting to see what happens next and then reacting. Added to the inefficiency of this approach is the hidden factor that it creates fear: you feel like you are forever battling unseen forces over which you have no control. You cannot control the economy or the environment within which you find yourself right now but you have 100% control over yourself and what you do with the time and resources you have available. Aim to set these up in the best way possible to help you succeed. Use what you've got where you are right now.

4. Ensure you have feedback loops. At the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, I suggested using a military style planning approach called OODA. This stands for Observe - Orient - Decide - Act. When things are changing so rapidly, you need to ensure that you are constantly aware of your new landscape. It’s a bit like doing a 4x4 trip through the bush - you be fully awake with all of your attention on what is ahead of you and around you. In the same way, ensure that you are aware of what is happening. This is the Observe stage. Once you know the landscape, you Orient yourself - where are you in relation to your clients, your team, your suppliers, your competitors? Having done this, you then Decide what is the best course of action to take to reach your goal. Now you Act. This will put you in a new position where, you need new information and you repeat the cycle. Keep doing this and you have a good chance of getting through.

5. Lastly, over communicate. When things are so unpredictable it is very easy to get lost inside your own head and assume the worst. Ensure that you are keeping in touch with your team, with your clients, with your suppliers and with the marketplace in general. Communication is one of the single most recurring challenges businesses face - even in the best of times - which makes it doubly important to ensure you do it well when things are so uncertain. Keep your message positive. It is worth noting here, as a reiteration of point two, that the more people you have looking to you, the more important it is what you focus on. We get more of what we focus on.  Focus what you want more of - great relationship with clients, a team that works together, ensuring that your market gets the product they need to get them through at this time, superb customer experience, speedy delivery - whatever your business is about, ensure that you are focusing on its delivery
   

These five points are very straightforward and simple. What matters is applying them daily.We still have a long way to go. By all accounts this is not going to be an easy ride. History does have this one great encouragement though – “this too will pass“.

In the words of Roosevelt - do what you can with what you've got where you are right now.

Kia kaha 

Mike & Kiri

(Kia kaha is a Māori phrase encouraging strength or confidence, often translated as “Stay Strong).