How to Make More Business Disruption a Good Thing
This latest round of business disruption from the pandemic closures might be the best thing to ever happen to you and your business. Hard times and the unexpected can, and do, surface at any time. Disruption can cause what’s working to not work anymore. But there’s a way to make sure you use that disruption for breakthrough results.
I’ve seen disruption in my own business. We were on track for another record year and had keynotes and workshops confirmed all over the world. There was one round of cancelations / reschedules in March and we’re seeing another round now. For others, we’re now seeing new travel restrictions, restaurant closures, and new regulations. Any disruption is a little uncomfortable.
What’s immediately obvious in a time of disruption are all the things that we can no longer do. Thinking that way for long doesn’t get you anywhere, other than maybe more frustrated. Or worse, waiting for things to get back to normal… hint, they never will and you can’t stand still and expect to grow.
It takes looking for what you CAN do -- and maybe what you can do is exactly because of the disruption. We’ve designed a 4 step process right out of our culture systems playbook to turn the latest disruption into the best thing that has ever happened in your business:
What you can’t do: Identify what it is that you can no longer do.
Why you can’t do it: Consider why you can’t do it, is it a law, an ethic, your own considerations?
What you ultimately want to achieve: Understand what you really want to achieve, the desired impact of what you wanted to accomplish.
How else you CAN achieve it: Speculate on how else you can achieve that same result via a different approach.
For us it was things like: we can no longer travel, we can’t run workshops in person, etc. That opened the door to virtual keynotes, virtual workshops, online courses, revamping all our materials, even time to finally work on the book I’ve wanted to write for the last 18 months. The net is that it’ll be one of the best things that could have happened to us.
For restaurants that are closed, I know many that are just now implementing curbside pickup. I saw an ad with AT&T recognizing their store locations are closed but giving people access to support in other ways. I’ve seen entrepreneurs start optimizing their slide decks to be consumed via zoom instead of in-person. All these new practices (and more importantly the skill sets behind them) will make these businesses stronger.
Seeing what we can’t do is easy. Everyone does it. Taking the perspective of what you can do ultimately gives you access to growth even amidst the worst disruptions. It’s innovators who will look at our current situation as a necessity for progress, look for what they can do, and then do something about it.