The Black Bear of a Business Crisis
For the past four years, I’ve been motorcycling in the Colorado mountains, riding gravel roads and trails. It’s an opportunity to spend time alone, immersing myself in the beauty of nature. It’s also a chance to experience the satisfaction of improving my technique. I study ways of riding, take lessons with professional coaches, and use the best equipment. I’ve been making good progress, and I’m not often caught by surprise… usually…
One beautiful fall afternoon, I was riding along one of my favorite trails, the leaves turning from summer green to gold along the way. I came around a curve and saw a black bear looming in my path. As the bear stood up on its hind legs, I kind of assumed it wasn’t looking to give me a hug. For all I knew, the bear was protecting its cubs, and there’s a reason why we use bears as the symbol of the protective parent. I didn’t want to get ripped to shreds by three hundred pounds of furious fur and muscle, so passing didn’t seem a smart option, and the narrow trail made a one-eighty-turn challenging.
Fortunately, as I was nervously contemplating my options, another motorcycle came from the opposite direction. Confused by having one of us on each side, the bear lumbered off the trail and into the woods. The other biker and I exchanged astonished grins, then continued on our way.
Thirty minutes later, I came around another curve in the trail and found myself face-to-face with a full-grown moose, which are not necessarily known for their friendly nature. Fortunately, luck was on my side again. The moose, following some unknown goal of its own, gently ambled off into the woods.
In all my years of riding those trails, I’d never before encountered anything more intimidating than a deer. After facing a bear and a moose in quick succession, I spent the rest of the ride expecting a mountain lion to leap out at me.
As I rode home, I reflected on how my intimidating experience could transfer over to the business world. Running a business involves setting clear strategies that will carry you toward your vision. As a rider, my vision was to enjoy a mind-opening experience on a ride through the mountains. But having a strategy is one thing, making it work in practice is another. We get everything aligned and ready, then the world gives us a surprise. Sometimes that’s a rocky economy, a market disruption, personnel issues, or even a global pandemic; sometimes, it’s a bear and a moose.
We need to be ready to effectively respond to those surprises. That means establishing contingency plans, emergency ways of working, and stress control techniques to maintain balance and creativity.
When the batteries in Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones started bursting into flames, the company didn’t panic. They quickly implemented a global recall and launched a PR campaign focused on accountability and improvement. When a second wave of batteries developed a similar fault, they very publicly changed their supplier. The incident was a costly one, but processes for recalls and PR crises gave them time to protect their reputation and rebuild.
Like Samsung, I’ve learned from my experience, and I’m using it to improve. I now start every single ride by practicing at least ten 180 tight-radius turns in both directions, so that I have the skills and the confidence to escape the next unlikely confrontation with a wild animal. I can’t plan on being lucky, I’ve got to make that luck for myself.
What’s the business equivalent of those practice turns, the actions you can take to prepare for success when the black bear of a crisis looms ahead of you?
- 1Determine and document your crisis strategy, including roles and ways of working, and be ready to activate it as a team.
- 2Brainstorm potential unexpected events, even unlikely ones, so that you’re not left stunned. Ask, “What if…”
- 3Learn and practice stress management techniques to maintain balance and creativity when under high pressure.
- 4Have outside help on hand: a trusted adviser, coach, or consultant you can call on to instantly boost your capacity, creativity, and expertise.
The unexpected isn’t a question of if—it’s a question of when. Is your business prepared to handle the bear in the road?
Contact Bold Mind X today to learn more about how we can help you prepare for the unexpected.