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How to turn crises into opportunities

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How to Create Breakthrough From Your Breakdowns By Pro-Actively Turning Crisis-Es Into Game Changers​

Crisis Anticipation & Crisis Prevention Is Any Day Better Than Crisis Avoidance, Crisis Handling Or Crisis Management

Ask Yourself How Many Of You Fall Into Any One Of The Following Category


  1. You Are In A Comfortable Position In Life Financially, Professionally, Business, Mentally, Emotionally, Physically, Relationship Wise And You Feel Secure That Things Would Remain Like This.
  2. You Are Alright But There Is Beginning Of Doubts In Your Mind That Things Are Not What They Seems To You – As The Dark Clouds Are Beginning To Be Seen Or Felt At A Distance
  3. You Are Alright In Few Of The Above & Facing Issues In Some
  4. You Are Downright Feeling Low/Dis-Satisfied In All Of These Areas Of Life
  5. Your Life Is Falling Apart In Many/Most/All Aspects
  6. Although You Are In The Crisis Yet You Are Not Aware Or Rather Avoiding Recognizing The Signs, Like An Ostrich

Now The Most Dangerous Situation Is 1 & 6.

When People Operate In These Two Situation => They Land Up In Situation 5 – It Is Progressive Deterioration => But Is Like A Roller Coaster – Initially Slow, But If Not Handled Effectively To Prevent – Then It Goes On A Very High Speed.

So What To Do – If You Are In Category 1 Or 6 Above

In Nutshell

  1. Assume That This Comfortable Situation Is About To Change Very Soon & That You Have To Notice, Observe The Often Unseen Major Changes
  2. Then As Per Your Reading Of The Change – Identifying The Gap In Your Mindset, Skills, Strategies, Beliefs, Habits – Which May Be Detrimental To You In The Case The Change Takes Place
  3. Create An Action Plan – To Update, Equip, Train, Unlearn, Prepare, Practice & Be Ready To Handle It When The Crisis Starts

The Basics Action Steps


A.The First Step

Do A SWOT Of Either Of The Two Situations – Depending On Whether You Run A Business Or Are In Job. For Anticipating The Personal Crisis – Warning Signs Are Given Later.

  1. Business Situation Swot Question => Assume That For Some Reason – Technology, Regulations, Competitors => You Loose All Your Customers Today You Have Only The Liabilities, Not Much Pending Money Coming To You
  2. Your Job Situation Swot Question => Assume That You Lose Your Job Today & Maintaining Entire Family Is Only Your Responsibility

SWOT Questions To Ask – For Businesses

Strengths – Is The Competitive Advantage You Have Over Your Competitors Facing The Similar Situation

In Case It Is Only Your Crisis – What Is Still Your USP – Which Can Help You Rebuild

  1. Do You Have Loyal Customers – Why They Are Or Were Loyal
  2. What Is Your Position In The Mind Of Your Customers – Is It Very Unique Or It Is Me Too - What Are The Brand's Strength, Easily Recallable Or Not Recallable
  3. What Is The Organization's Share Of The Products In The Market?
  4. What Is The Track Record Of Stocks?
  5. What Is The Financial State Of The Organization - Is Your Business Debt Free Or Have Lots Of Liabilities. Do You Have Lots Of Pending Payment/Incoming Revenue Due
  6. Do You Have Talented Employees Who Are Passionately Engaged – Who Will Be With You During Crisis - How Is The Employees Morale
  7. Have You Been Anticipating & Preparing The People Internally To Face This Crisis – What All Did You Do & What All Still Needed To Be Done In This Area
  8. What Type Of Leadership You Had – Is The Crisis The Result Of Ineffective Leadership
  9. What Is Your Quality Perception – Is It Something At Bench-marked Status Or Just Passable Like Many Others
  10. How Flexible Is Your Organization Especially Yourself In Adapting To Change
  11. What Is Your Marketing Strategy & Marketing Channel Advantages
  12. How Much NPA You Are Stuck With - What Are Your Assets - Which Asset Is Strongest
  13. In Case You Have To Change The Product/Service/Offering Completely – Can You Get Your Existing Customer To Support You
    Do The Employees Perceive That If They Come Out Of This Crisis – They Would Be Suitable Rewarded – What Is Your Company Culture – Is It Innovative & Meritocratic

Weaknesses: In Addition To Following – Any Above Parameters Not Being A Strength – They Will Become Part Of Your Weaknesses

  1. Does The Leadership & Employees Understand The Situation/Crisis
  2. Is The Strategy To Tackle The Situation Is Ready Or People Are Busy Saving Their Backs & Find Scapegoats For Blames
  3. What Are The Areas In Which Your Competitors Have Overwhelming Advantages
  4. Do Your Quality Of People At Par With The Best
  5. Do You Have Optimum Manpower
  6. What Is The Cash Flow Situation
  7. Are You Dependent Of Very Few Customers Only
  8. Are You In A Cost Cutting Mode – Where Essential Investments/Necessities Are Being Ignored
  9. Have Your Wastages As Per Lean Manufacturing Have Been Identified And Are Being Addressed
  10. What Are Your Customer's Major Complaints/Reason For Dissatisfaction Against You
  11. Are Employees Scared For Their Future Or They Have Faith In Leadership
  12. On The Face Of This Crisis What Areas Do You Need To Improve On/Work On/Create New Advantages

Opportunities:

  1. Are You In Apposition To Leverage The New Technology To Create An Marketing Edge Over Your Competitors
  2. Is This Crisis Showing You – Some Ways To Add Much More Value To Your Customers - Is There An Unmet Need/Want That You Can Fulfill
  3. If You Have To Kill Your Existing Product/Services – What Can You Do That Your Competitors/Others Can Not
  4. What Strengths Favor Your Organization To Face The Emerging Trends - What Trends Might Impact Your Industry In A Way Advantageous To You - Are There Trends Emerging That You Can Profitably Service
  5. Are You In A Position To Create/Provide Product/Services That Others Can Not As Of Now Using Your USP
  6. What Are There New Markets That You Have Identified
  7. How Can You Take Advantage Of The Vulnerabilities Of The Competitors

Threats:

  1. How Has The Competitors, Responded To These Threats To Put You On A Weaker Footing
  2. Is Your Brand Credibility Weaker Than Competitors
  3. Are The Talented Ones Leaving Your Organization
  4. Is The New Technology Creating A Major Handicap For You
  5. Are The Customers Preferences Changing Too Fast – By Disruptive Services Offered B Y Competitors
  6. Is Your Product/Services – Dependent On The Policies Of Other Countries Majorly
  7. Are Your Customers Leaving You
  8. Do Your Products/Services Match The Emerging Solutions
  9. Is Your Competitor Better Equipped (Funding, Talent, Mobility, Etc)
  10. How Much Of Your Critical Service/Components Dependent On Third Parties – Which May Hamper Your Customer Satisfaction



SWOT Questions To Ask – For Personal Life Mapping

Strengths

  1. What Are Your Core Competencies & Strength All These Has To Be Backed Up By Actual Situations That You Have Handled
  2. What Soft Skills That You Have – Which Can Be Supported By Factual Incidents That Makes You Stand Above The Crowd
  3. What Skills, Qualifications, Expertise – That You Can Add Value To A New Organization
  4. What Personal Brands That Makes You A Specially Suited To New Organization
  5. What You Have Learned As Per The Emerging Trends That Strengthens Your Claim To New Job

Weaknesses

  1. When Was The Last Time You Attended A New Skill Learning/Self-Development Program
  2. Are Aware Of The Ways Resumes Written, Interviews Conducted, Job Market Scenarios
  3. How Are Your Finances – How Much Time Can You Survive – Being Unemployed
  4. What Are Your Liabilities
  5. Do You Have A Restriction Of Relocation

Opportunities

  1. If You Lose Job – What You Can Do Which You Are Passionate About – That Can Make A Financial Breakthrough
  2. With Your Existing Skills – What Are The New Age Job/Profession You Can Do
  3. How Can You Create Multiple Ways Of Earning Using Your Expertise, New Technology, Freer Time, Your Passion

Threats

  1. What Is Job Market Situation Right Now
  2. Are There Imminent Industry-wide Lay-Off On The Offing => Like 1 Million People Are To Be Laid-Off In IT Sector In India In Next 2-3 Years
  3. Have Become Unemployable – Because Of Your Skills Set, Age, Lack Of Millennial Traits
  • B.The Second Step - Danger Signs – To Look For

Organization

The Signs Which May Leads Your Organization To Major Crisis -Must Be Avoided

1.You Are Doing Well – The Graph Of Your Market-Share, Number Of New Clients, Increased Sales Are Not Increasing

2.New Competitors Are Suddenly In News & They Are Making Great Inroads [Patanjali Into FMCG In India]

3.Your Best Talents Are Slowly Leaving

4.You Have Started Getting Customer Complaints

5.You Might Have Lost One Customer

6.You Have Lots Of Returned Goods – Invoiced In The End Of The Month To Show High Sales In That Month

7.There Are Rumors In The Company – About Its Going Down

8.You Hear Complaint Against Leadership

9.Some Friends/Vendors/Suppliers/Employee Suggest That You Need To Get Your Ears On Ground

10.Little Or No Revenue Growth

11.Deteriorating Capital Base

12.Equipment Failures Due To Cost Cutting Or Avoiding Maintenance Schedule That Threaten Productivity Poor Employee Morale

13.Salary Disbursement Delayed

14.Unpaid Taxes, Bills Of Contractors/Vendors/Suppliers

15.Failure Or Closing Of Major Customer

16.New Technology

17.Pricing Pressure

Danger Signs – To Look For => Personal Life

If You Avoid/Do Not Notice/Do Not Take Actions On These – Would Definitely Leads To Major Crisis

  1. You Are Tired But Unable To Sleep Well – But Most Of The Time You Find You Are Unable To Keep Your Eyes Open.
  2. You Are Overreacting
  3. You Feel Like Being Alone
  4. You Are Giving All Your Energy To Work – But Then You Are Left With No Energy For Personal Life/Family
  5. Most Of The Time You Are Fatigued – Somehow You Pass Through The Day
  6. You Have Stopped Enjoying Vacations/Weekends, Time With Family
  7. You Are Using Medicine In Larger Doses Than Prescribed – Often Going For OTC Medicines To Treat Symptoms
  8. You Feel Your Life Is Going Out Of Control & You Can Do Nothing About It
  9. Using Alcohol Or Smoking To Control Stress
  10. Argumentative
  11. Anxious
  12. Crying
  13. Depressed
  14. Erratic Behavior
  15. Hallucinations
  16. Homicidal/Suicidal Thoughts
  17. Impulsivity
  18. Irritability
  19. Mood Swings
  20. Paranoid/Fearful
  21. Restlessness

Danger Signs – To Look For => Professional/Work Life

The Signs To Beware Of In Your Professional Life – These When Avoided Leads To Major Crisis

  1. Significant Changes In Organizational Structure
  2. A Big Increase In Workload ,Work Backlogs - Despite Best Efforts, The Work Isn't Getting Done
  3. Flaring Tempers Of Bosses, Hostile Work Environment
  4. Inadequate Number Of Staff
  5. Hiring Freezes And Unfilled Positions
  6. Sacrificing Customer Service For Economy
  7. An Increase In Human Resource Issues
  8. Reductions In Benefits And Salary Freezes
  9. Use Of Vacation During Slow Periods
  10. Products And Projects Are Postponed Or Canceled
  11. Budgets Are Cut Way Back, All Travel Is Curtailed, Routine Expenses Are Cut
  12. Senior Managers Resign - One Resignation Might Not Mean A Lot, But Two Or More Resignations Should Ring Danger Bell
  13. The Flow Of Communication Changes: Things That Used To Come Verbally Now Come In Writing Or Vice Versa
  14. You're Excluded From Meetings Where You Used To Be A Key Player.
  15. Vendors Grumble About Not Being Paid
  16. Reports In The Newspaper And From Analysts Say The Company Is Not Meeting Its Goals
  17. Salary Freeze.
  18. There Are Layoffs Announced For The Support Staff, Your Colleagues Are Losing Their Jobs
  19. Industry-Wide Layoffs
  20. Acquisitions, Mergers Or Buyouts Of Your Organization
  21. Company Is Missing Target
  22. Breakdowns Can Create Breakthroughs. Things Fall Apart So Things Can Fall Together." ~Unknown


  • The Third Step

Ask Your Self The Following Breakthrough Questions

  1. What's The Breakthrough You'd Like To Have With This
  2. What Needs To Happen For This Breakthrough To Occur
  3. If You Had To Solve It – What Would Be Your Solution/Next Step
  4. What Are The Challenges/Obstacles In The Way Of Your Taking The Next Step Or Making A Decision
  5. What Happens If You Do Not Take Any Action
  6. What Happens If You Take Action – Any Fear That Is Immobilizing You From Taking It

  • D.The Fourth Step

The Steps Of Crisis Handling – Business/Job

PRE-CRISIS => Pro-Active Approach

1. Create Teams In Various Functions – Marketing, Technical, Production, Quality, R&D To Anticipate Crises

2. Create Monitoring Systems - Intelligence Gathering Is An Essential Component Of Both Crisis Prevention And Crisis Response.

3.Create A Pro-Active List Of Crisis & Sops To Deal With Them

4. Create People Accountable By Giving Them Crystal Clear Roles, Responsibility, Authority, Empowerment,

POST-CRISIS – New Crisis Has Taken Place Now What

  1. Assess The Crisis Situation
  2. Drive Action And Progress - Focus On The Right Solution, Not The Fast One
  3. Set A Clear Schedule, Clarify Messages
  4. Establish A Core Team – Give Them Crystal Clear Roles, Responsibility, Authority, Empowerment
  5. Identify A Support Team – Give Them Crystal Clear Roles, Responsibility, Authority, Empowerment
  6. Use A Disciplined Problem Solving Method
  7. Prepare To Spend Time, Money, Effort – Do Not Skimp
  8. Distinguish Between Short Term Needs And Long Term Objectives
  9. Compensate For Hardship, Recognize Contribution
  10. Be Empathic, Respect Personal Space



Tips For Dealing With Personal Breakdown

1.Accept That There Is Breakdown In Your Life

2.Let Yourself Feel The Impact It Is Having On You Emotional, Mental, Physical, Financial, Relationship, Health, Happiness

3.Accept That This Breakdown Is Life's Way of Letting You Know You've Gotten off Track.

4.Ask Yourself – Why I Have Got This Situation – What Is My Role In It

5.Take Total Responsibility For Your Situation— Don't Waste Your Time Blaming Others

6.Do A Make-It-Up Action Plan

7.Restart Your Life - In The Wake Of An Upset

8. There Is The Opportunity To Regroup, Press The Reset Button, And Start Anew

9. From A Newly Awakened Perspective - You're Realizing That There's A Difference Between Happy Thoughts And Happy Feelings + You're Starting To See Patterns + It Seems Like Your Emotional State Is Unwarranted + 

10. You're Terrified Of Loss Right Now + You Need To Give Up The Things You Need To Give + You've Decided You're Not Going To Be The Victim Of Your Own Mind Anymore.

People Don't Have Breakdowns Unless They Are On The Precipices Of "Breakthroughs."

Any Kind Of Intense Mental-Emotional Turmoil – Is Always A Sign That Things Are In The Process Of Changing. Otherwise, They'd Just Be "Normal." You're Done Accepting Your Old "Normal," And You're Onto Bigger, Better, Brighter, Happier

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