Don’t Let a Crisis go to Waste

Don’t Let a Crisis go to Waste

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“You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste; it’s an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid.”
Rahm Emanuel (White House Chief of Staff, 2008-2010)

The Definition of Crisis:

The Piper alpha oil-drilling platform exploded in July, 1988. 166 people lost their lives. One of the survivors, Andy Mochan, lived by leaping 15 stories into the frigid North Sea. In his words, “it was either fry or jump, so I jumped.” Andy found himself in an unthinkable position, one leading to imminent disaster if he didn’t take action, but with no clear path to success.

His ordeal has been adapted into the burning platform metaphor, (Burning Platform Article) which focuses on the agonizing decisions businesses need to make when confronted with an imminent crisis. The key feature of a crisis is that, when it happens, you can’t ignore it. You must change your behaviour and take action. That’s often the source of panic. The qualities of a burning-platform crisis are:

-There is a real and immediate danger that you can’t ignore.
-There are a limited number of difficult choices.
-The choices are irreversible.
-All choices have a high chance of failure.

Knowing when a Crisis is Coming:

Dont Let a Crisis Go To WasteYour business is going to have a crisis. Hopefully it’s not today, maybe not this year, but it will. If I were talking over beer I’d ask you to read my lips: “you are not immune.” To paraphrase Norman Vincent Peale, when God gives you an opportunity he wraps it in a problem. A savvy business person can turn impending doom into imminent profit if he knows how to roll with the punches.

If you look for the right signs, you’ll usually be able to tell when a crisis is closing in:

-Stay aware of the hard realities of your industry. Some business people think that their business has the ability to resist market turmoil. They’re usually wrong.

-Crises do damage by initiating a downward spiral of knee-jerk decisions. The more contingencies you plan for ahead of time, the better chance you’ll break the spiral.

-Get out of your office and don’t just rely on official updates to know what’s happening. Start conversations in the lunchroom and make your employees comfortable telling you things

If you’re evaluating your businesses’ success by revenue or even gross margin, you need other metrics. Keep your finger on 3 pulses at all times:

  1. 1. Your profit margin trend. The number at the bottom is the one that counts. Create a trends chart for this period compared to a few previous periods. If the trend slopes down, find out why.
  2. 2. Listen to industry experts. Consume podcasts, blogs, and whitepapers on the state of your industry. Ask the right questions over the Friday afternoon pint. Don’t be blindsided.
  3. 3. Listen to your customers. Are they happy with your products and, more importantly, your business trajectory? Do you conduct a Net Promoter Score survey at least annually? If you don’t or if you haven’t heard of it, start this year. Find your customers’ normal level of satisfaction so you know if it changes.

A Crisis is just an Opportunity that has to happen Now:

Kung-Fu is the art of turning an opponent’s fierce momentum against him. A burning platform crisis will hit your business like a roundhouse kick. If you lock your knees and absorb the momentum, it will crush you. If you anticipate and maneuver, you can land back on your feet ready to hit back.

If you don’t see it coming, you’re probably in trouble. If you do see it coming, what you do is about perspective. You can be afraid of the kick, hide and start updating your resume, or you can see it as a golden opportunity to take the risks you might otherwise never take.

Comfort makes us complacent. Let an impending crisis make you hungry to innovate. Change more than products. Use the momentum of the crisis to drive a sustained, cultural change. Be the first one out of the trenches leading this charge.
Pressure makes us creative. Explore avenues of innovation that you were nervous of before. Do your homework and be prepared to take a risk.

Make changes that are going to matter to your customer.
Set fire to the platform before anyone else can. Control the direction of the flames and stay ahead of the crisis.

Keep your finger on the 3 pulses. Plan contingencies. Anticipate the kick and what your next move will be. Turn the crisis into an opportunity, and you’ll be the one left standing.

(original sources: https://hbr.org/2012/12/how-to-anticipate-a-burning-platform
http://innovateonpurpose.blogspot.ca/2013/09/innovations-burning-platform.html)

Burning Platform Part 1

Burning Platform Part 1

by

“ It was fry or jump, so I jumped. “
Andy Mochan

Section 1:

On a July evening in 1988, the Piper alpha oil-drilling platform in the North Sea exploded. 166 people lost their lives in the inferno. One of the 63 survivors was Andy Mochan.

The alarms woke Andy up and he barely escaped his quarters in time. Injured, he made it to the platform’s edge and looked down. 15 stories below him, the water burned with oil. In the frigid waters, he knew he had 20 minutes, maximum, to live.

Two thirds of the rig had already melted in the fireball and disappeared. Andy’s choice was the certain death of staying, or the probable death of jumping. He jumped, and he lived.

From Tragedy to Metaphor:

Andy’s story is one of courage in the face of unthinkable danger, and resolve driven by unimaginable choice. The tale has been turned into a powerful metaphor for illustrating the moment of decision in organizational change.

burning platform in businessDaryl Conner, an international leader in organizational change, coined the term “burning platform” after watching Andy’s interviews on the news. In Andy’s ordeal, he saw glimpses of what went through his clients’ minds when confronting the choice between imminent disaster and probably failure.

While executives confronting change don’t risk being burned alive, they often have their businesses and livelihoods staked on the decisions they make. Connor refers to a burning platform as a crucible moment in change management.

A burning platform isn’t any organizational change. Connor established certain criteria to ensure that only the most critical situations qualify:

  • There is a real and immediate crisis that cannot be ignored.
  • There are a limited number of difficult choices.
  • The choices are irreversible.
  • All choices have a high chance of failure.

Want to learn how you can apply Process Improvement techniques to your business? Let’s Chat!

4 Types of Burning Platform:

The metaphor has gone viral, and is now taken up by Change Managers and Business Leaders worldwide. As often happens, virality has changed the original intended definition.

To Conner, the key element of a burning platform is not danger, but resolve. A crucible moment need not be “do or die” to a life or a business. The moment of fundamental organizational change is defined more by the commitment of our choice rather than the degree of peril.

There are 4 kinds of burning platform moments in business. The more “current” the threat or opportunity is, the easier the decision and commitment tend to be:

Current Problems: Your business is confronted with an imminent threat and you need to make a choice. This mirrors Andy’s story.

Current Opportunity: You have the chance take a leap and grow your business. Making the decision is often the easy part here; maintaining the commitment is the hard part.

Anticipated Problem: The threat is inevitable, but not imminent. You need to make a resolved decision in order to prevent future disaster.

Anticipated Opportunity: The most abstract, and thus the hardest to commit to with sustained resolve. There is an inevitable, but not imminent, opportunity. If you change now you can be in position to seize it.

Burning Platform Chart