2020 — The Never-ending Tough Mudder Course.
In August of 2016, Samsung released its highly-anticipated Galaxy Note 7. Within the first month, reports surfaced about the batteries in the phone bursting into flames, leading the company to issue a recall for the phones in September in order to replace the defective batteries. Unfortunately for Samsung, some of its replacement batteries also exploded, forcing Samsung to throw in the white towel, issuing a recall order for the phones and discontinuing production of the Galaxy Note 7 altogether.
How does a company recover from such an embarrassing string of events and missteps? For Samsung, the only way forward was by recognizing the failure for what it was, and to move forward and look to recover with its subsequent products. To regain their consumers’ trust, Samsung was deliberately transparent and humble about their missteps and poor decisions, and they pledged to do better with the next phone, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
This story, among others, serves the important purpose of reminding us that the daily fires (pun not intended) that business owners put out on a daily basis will never go away. We will never outgrow unexpected disruptions to our processes. No amount of sales or revenue will guarantee a product’s success. To use the extreme example of 2020 – no amount of business planning, workflow charting, or business book reading could have prepared us for the amount of adapting, pivoting, and problem-solving that has been needed. In the course of six short months, business owners have had to leapfrog from one urgent challenge to another, including: “should we shut down?”, applying for PPP loans, figuring out how to operate remotely, asking “how am I going to sell if I can’t meet in person”, video conference burnout, and creating a reopening plan. This year has been a never-ending Tough Mudder course that business owners have had to navigate while balancing our all-important job of preserving our client relationships.
It' S Not What Happened But What You Do Next.
On one hand, we can feel sorry for ourselves, cast blame on others for causing difficulty, and freeze in our tracks and hope problems will dissipate into something more manageable. OR…
Understanding this, and using case studies such as that of the Galaxy Note 7, we recognize that all we can control in all of this is how we respond to adversity. On one hand, we can feel sorry for ourselves, cast blame on others for causing difficulty, and freeze in our tracks and hope problems will dissipate into something more manageable. Conversely, we can take a more positive perspective by treating adversity as opportunities to adapt, innovate, and grow. We can admit to our mistakes, we can evaluate how we do things, and we can move forward. This is easier said than done, so to help us do this, we offer a few more case studies that we can draw inspiration from.
After the 2011 earthquake and ensuing Fukashima Nuclear Plant disaster, Toyota suddenly saw its supply chain decimated, abruptly halting production of its cars. Within a few days and weeks, however, the Toyota management team had a plan to reopen by shifting manufacturing to other parts of the globe, using its competitors’ suppliers, and even moving their ‘weekend’ to Thursday and Friday to address the electricity supply challenge caused by the earthquake.
After 9-11, Victorinox suddenly saw a 40-50% drop in sales because sharp pointy objects were no longer being allowed to be brought on planes. Rather than retreating in the face of adversity, Victorinox branched out by re-assigning their workforce to underserved segments of their business, producing kitchen knives, watches, apparel, and luggage.
When Steve Jobs came back to a flailing Apple in 1997, he realized that in order to rebound from its current struggles was to find a partner to inject much-needed capital to fund his vision of building new product lines. In an uncharacteristic move of humility, Jobs went to Apple’s age-old rival, Microsoft, for an investment of $150m. How Apple leveraged that infusion of cash is the stuff of history.
While it is apparent that our businesses are not in the same standing as Samsung, Victorinox, Toyota, or Apple, it is a welcome reminder that even generational and Fortune 100 companies face adversity. The size of the problems are simply scaled to the size of the company. The way we think about adversity, and where we go for inspiration when faced with challenges, will make all the difference.