Preparing for Adversity & Finding the Opportunity

Global economies have been plunged into uncertainty; fear is inciting irrational behaviour in markets and by individuals. Our business and political leaders face an unprecedented dilemma. What do we need to do?

Times have changed, people's thinking has changed, and simple instinctive understanding of and responses to your business, your market and your audiences can no longer be relied upon. New insight and actions are required.

Strategy

In these circumstances, a well-researched, robust strategy is more important than at any time in living memory . It is paramount that our business and political leaders understand that what people hear is more important than what the leaders are saying .

Leading by example, taking well-researched, well-planned actions and constantly communicating with the public so that there is no doubt and no room for misinterpretation, will be the keys for the businesses and institutions to survive and prosper in uncertain times. Getting this wrong can result in loss of money, reputation and, for politicians, electoral defeat.

Take a look at the United States. When Congress passed its $US700bn stimulus plan a few weeks ago, hardly anyone noticed that the “Bailout Bill” that had angered voters so intensely had turned into an “Economic Rescue Package”, even though the new plan contained more unrelated sweeteners for business than the first. Less than a month from an election, voters demanded to know that their interests came first – not those of the bankers they blame for the current mess.

Messaging

Message matters more than ever in troubled economic times. ‘Capitalist' is out; ‘oversight' and ‘accountability' are in. ‘Results' gain ever more prevalence over ‘politics' and ‘process'. ‘Fairness' becomes the cornerstone principle by which all your actions will be judged. In short, the way any successful campaign should be framed has changed .

A new operating climate means new priorities. In research terms, all that we knew about the public's priorities has been turned on its head.

Less than a year ago, the environment was king – Kevin Rudd made his ‘global leadership' on the issue a cornerstone of his election victory. In Britain , David Cameron and Gordon Brown were seen by some as attempting to ‘out-green' each other, while Al Gore was reinvented as an Oscar-winning political seer and hot outside bet for President off the back of a populist Nobel Prize Award.

A year on, Gore is nowhere to be seen. Instead, the financial crisis and rocketing cost-of-living form the lens through which people see the world. Leaders everywhere, take note.

In the markets, the preservation of capital is the new sine qua non of smart strategy. Politically, demands for regulation reflect the public's belief that the bankers had been allowed to ‘get away with it' in an environment of unfettered capitalism for too long. Uncertain times like these usually prompt business leaders to withdraw into their silos, slashing research and marketing budgets as they go.

This strategic error is the understandable result of negative ‘group-think'. In fact, the smartest companies that we work with invest at least as much in a downturn. Having a deep understanding of the fears and concerns of the market is more important today, not less.

People

Your own people remain your most important asset , especially in a time of turmoil. It is still possible to engage your people while jobs are cut and wages frozen, but the drivers of behaviour are different.

The ability to communicate security , respect and meaning what you say , replaces the vocabulary of reward and responsibility (the cornerstones of employee brands the world over only 12 months ago) as the new keys to productivity, service and low staff turnover. Get your strategy right, in other words, and the threat of financial crisis can be turned into the opportunity for future financial success.

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