A New Brave World...of Business!

In 1932, novelist Aldous Huxley authored the book “Brave New World”. The novel examined a futuristic society, called the World State, which revolved around science and efficiency. In this society, emotions and individuality were conditioned out of children at a young age, and there were no lasting relationships because “everyone belongs to everyone else”. One of the most salient messages of Brave New World was the alarm raised by Huxley against the dangers of technology.

I am not going to talk about technology, but I am going to talk about the danger zone that businesses have stepped into or have been pushed into as we navigate one of the most unique and challenging economic eras of all times.?When we entered the COVID-19 pandemic our economy could not have been better; interest rates were low and investment was high..?We had been on a 10-15 year exponential road of discovery and growth following the 2007-2009 Great Recession.

Then on March 11, 2020 and with the announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic, our way of living and being in business changed.?What was originally a “new flu season”, turned out to be 2-years of facing a new reality of life,?business, and?relationships.?In the future, history may define these two years as the Great Zoom Society.?Technology took over!?And more importantly trillions of dollars were injected onto the economy to subsidize the realities of the pandemic.?Our government created an artificial economic reality to address the needs of people and businesses.

Let’s understand that a recession is defined as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months,” according to the National Bureau of Economic.??At the same time, we started to experience inflation. Inflation is the decline of purchasing power of a given currency over time. A quantitative estimate of the rate at which the decline in purchasing power occurs can be reflected in the increase of an average price level of a basket of selected goods and services in an economy over some period of time.

There are many opinions as to why we have fallen into the recession/inflation period. Some would say it is the fallout of the pandemic. Others would say it is the events in the Ukraine. Regardless of the reasons, we as individuals and as businesses are reacting to it in ways that are atypical.

Recently I was asked, when did I?realize that we were heading towards a recession? My answer was when gas prices began increasing, when the cost of goods started to go up, and when businesses began fighting to overcome the pandemic, but were not willing to recognize that they needed to come up with new solutions to battle for survival.

Today and only 6-months into 2022, we are seeing interest rates go up, expendable income go down, a labor pool in disarray, a supply chain that is wavering, crime is increasing at unprecedented rates, homelessness is spreading, and there is a mindset of confusion in the business world and in our personal lives as to what the future will look like both in the short- and long-term.?Combine that with a lack of planning and strategy by governmental officials, we are left in a state of confusion, chaos and curiosity.

The good news is that we came out of the 2007-2009 Great Recession, and history shows that such times are cyclical.?So, we will enter a new world, but it may be one that may have the reality of Brave New World.?Not Huxley’s warning against the dangers of technology, but rather a warning to be conscious and diligent as we pass through the next couple of years.

So, what do we do in the meantime??How do we “buy time”??What do we need to do to stabilize the situation in our businesses? The answer in my mind comes down to two words: “pivot” and “alignment”.?

Pivoting means looking beyond the norm, and executing decisions that open the doors to new opportunities of executing on our visions, our goals, and the day-to-day operations of our businesses.?It is about diversification, while at the same time maintaining preservation and protection.?It’s about becoming a “lean and mean” organization and living in a new world where “cash is king” for the next couple of years.?It is about thinking out-of-the-box and examining our perspectives and views of the reality that we have created and been so successful within.?And, it is about using the simple, proven and practical tools that have helped thousands of entrepreneurs and businesses around the world get what they want from their businesses during the past good and bad times.

Alignment is simple.?It is about getting everyone in your business in the same boat, rowing in the same direction, up the same river, to get to the same destination.?It is about collaboration among your teams and employees.?It is about being a well-tuned unit that gets to the root of issues and executes on solutions with no hesitation and no reservation.?It is about simplifying the complexity of making decisions and running our businesses.?And it is about rescripting the stories in our head that hold us hostage and the head trash that drives us insane.?It is about effectively and efficiently dealing with the picture that we face today and letting go of the past.?And it is about our teams all doing this with intentionality, commitment, passion, and accountability.

After being in the business world for over 50-years, I came to realize that EOS? or the Entrepreneurial Operating Systems is a tool that is ready to take us through the 2022 Post-Pandemic Recession and Recovery.?It is a simple proven process with practical tools that?has worked for?hundreds of years.?It is the combination of tools, tips, and best practices that notable business leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, and authors have shared for years over and over when we have faced similar times.?While each has offered it in different words and venues, the messages are the same.?Gino Wickman the author of “Traction”, “Get a Grip”, and “The EOS? Life” and the founder of EOS? has simply packaged those messages in a way that has the ability to be executed like no other system.

So, what are you doing to create your response to your Brave New World??What are you doing to pivot and align your teams??What are you doing to create your own reality of success and empowerment to take on the challenges that we face today?

You don’t have to do this alone!?You don’t have to recreate the wheel!?You don’t need to know everything!?The only thing that you need is to give yourself the permission to take action!

If you have any questions or would like to continue this discussion further, please contact us at [email protected] or go to our website at www.peerexecutiveboards.com and contact us virtually.?We will be happy to get back to you!

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EOS?, the Entrepreneurial Operating System? takes entrepreneur businesses on a journey of mastery of the EOS tools which enables businesses to elevate their leadership teams to make better decisions, maintain a level of accountability, at attain greater success more simplistically.?The components of EOS? are Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction, which when used effectively attains a healthier organization with greater success.??Marshall Krupp is a recognized Certified EOS? Implementer serving clients through the nation.?He is also a national speaker, a past award-winning Vistage Worldwide Chair, and a past career of providing crisis management strategic advisors service to businesses, governmental agencies and not-for-profit organizations.?Review more at?www.peerexecutiveboards.com?and at?www.eosworldwide.com/marshall-krupp.?Review the YouTube video?here.