There are Known Knowns, Known Unknowns and Unknown Unknowns - Donald Rumsfeld
It is said that to everything there are opposites or two sides of the coin, good vs bad, hot vs cold, I am sure you will get the point from here. In same principle we can turn a crisis into an opportunity.
What are knowns of what you know you know, what you know but don't know, and what you don't know you don't know?
The Physiological Impacts on a Crisis Situation.
Ut Ohh! Now you are in a real crisis situation!
I wonder how many have been in this situation? No toilet paper! How did this come to this point? How did this make you feel? Vulnerable perhaps? How did you learn to mitigate this so it don't happen again?
When you are faced with a crisis in life and or work, we are often more focused on that crisis at that vulnerable moment as like when you run out of toilet paper.
We tend to suspend everything else. This then feels like a mass weight on our shoulders, constricting our thoughts, it blinds our vision, our spirit and resolve are often tested. Even the heart rate speeds up. Our compassion may even be impacted, our understanding and our courage may be lost in the chaos. We may just get so consumed by the negative, that we fail to see the way to opportunity for creativity.
Can you captain the ship when it is going down? or can you steer the ship out to calmer seas? Can you stay above the storm?
In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.― Albert Einstein
Ostrich Syndrome!
Many crisis have been due to leadership having their heads buried in the sand, ignoring the threats that exist or have been known for some time occurring under your nose ultimately called OSTRICH SYNDROME. Ignorance is not bliss!
Let’s pause and reflect on why such a crisis has occurred. As a believer that the best crisis management is of course no crisis. Did the crisis occur out of poor risk management or inadequate contingency planning at fault?
Maybe a staff member who hasn’t fully understood security requirements? That is a known known.
Maybe even such things out of our immediate control are knowns but are also unknowns like the dreaded financial crisis, or a DDOS/ cyber-attack? Or the sudden ownership gone AWOL, or insider theft.
What Is Fit For Purpose in Crisis Management?
We often utilise tools for mitigating risk that fits the purpose. Such as SWOT analysis, Root Cause analysis, PESTLE, Risk Benefit analysis, cause and effect to name a few. While we often depend on these tools, leaders including management are oblivious to the often under utilise the crucial element in the workplace- EMPLOYEES! Not only do your employees want to know what is happening, they can be part of the solution if you leave your ego behind, it's not a sign of a weakness to seek out others who may have the solution to the problem.
Ensure that you act fast and get the situation out in the open before your business is subjected to irreparable reputational damage. Be honest and earn trust even in a bad situation.
We cannot totally know or control crisis that is unexpected. As such risk mitigating often takes on a layered approach to counter that includes relationships with others.
Crisis is Relational.
What if we rise above the chaos, embrace it and take the higher ground to open our eyes for opportunity that may come from the crisis. To look at it through the lens in the relational circuit context may hold the key to some solution finding through five stages of analysis.
The opportunity
Being creative even if that creativity leads to failure, it does not mean you are a failure, it means you were clever at finding a new possible solution and or learning a method that does not simply work out.
Reflect through these stages which may lead from the experience, are you able to vision a new service? Or a new market? who are the others who may inadvertently put forward a somewhat crazy idea to use that may just be a near perfect solution.
Look at what you can become from the experience. Have you raised your resilience bar? Have you become more consultative in the process?
Have you courageously steered the ship to calmer waters like a leader?
Opening yourself up to knowing what is thought to be unknown within you indeed leaves you with more esteem, and confidence.
Like the two sides of the coin, one being a crisis the other being opportunity. Don't bury your head in the sand. Always take the high ground and embrace the chaos, discover more of what is within yourself, seek opportunity prior to crisis by contacting Chameleon Confidential Solutions NOW!
By Catherine Halse 2019©. Updated 2023. All rights reserved.
Commentaires