Thoughts on working effectively through crisis

Sharing with my LinkedIn network in case it may be useful for others.

#1 - Have a plan to get to the plan. To solve a complex problem, the solution is not going to come quickly or be perfect in the first iteration. Give yourself the right time, schedule, space to work toward the optimal plan. But you need to post wins along the way, no matter how small. Set a timeframe for producing the first plan, no matter how ugly it is. Then immediately set a target for v2 of the plan and decide whom you need to input on it to help make it stronger.

#2 - Incorporate scenario planning into your working approach from now on. Layout the different ways a project/strategy might go south, seek out the blind spots, ask yourself how/why something you're working on is likely to fail. Fix that thing that you suspect could be the source of the failure. Repeat. Not having optimal answers to the questions around the blindspots is not necessarily cause for not moving forward. This scenario planning takes extra time and effort and will feel wasteful. It is not. Part of the reason we are experiencing this Covid19 crisis in such a dramatic way is a failure to take sufficiently robust actions on scenarios that our medical and epidemiological professionals had drawn up. The current reality reflects the fact that our governments collectively lacked the will, support or ability to properly action scenario preparations quickly or completely enough.

#3 - Revisit and revise your plans regularly. The initial plan is almost certain not to be the final plan. Get used to revising plans for all types of reasons and don't take it personally -- in fact, instead of being resistant to change, embrace the opportunity to improve your plan when prompted to do so. When deciding what to change, the primary question I have been asking myself is i.) what assumptions have changed since the time of my original plan and ii.) what new information do I have that I didn't before? Of course, this takes extra time and effort. You may at times feel disheartened or that you are not making progress - this is an error in logic and incorrect.

#4 - Moving with perfect information and data is impossible and wrong during a crisis. Dr. Mike of the World Health Organization said it best during a Covid19 briefing on March 16 when he said, "Perfection is the enemy of the good when it comes to emergency management. Speed trumps perfection. The greater error is not to move. The greater error is to be paralyzed by the fear of failure. If you need to be right before you move, you will never win." Clip below:

This a particularly critical point for leaders who MUST take action. It will feel like you are irresponsibly making a decision, that there is significant risk in moving forward with this decision, that there are significant unknowns in the decision-making based on assumptions you are making. That is the burden of being in a decision-making role and the reason that strong leadership is so demanding. In times of true crisis, nearly all decisions come with costs and require tremendous discipline and courage on the part of the leader.

#5 - Move forward, do something/anything, take one step/action at a time. Action disinfects paralysis, pity, fear of the unknown and despair. Action gives us control over something, no matter how small, and allows us to maintain a mindset of having agency over one's environment and future. Make your bed. Disinfect your doorknobs. Call a friend, family member or neighbor to check in on them. Exercise. Gift some PPE to a front-line worker: https://forms.gle/zG6JvKB61hgFYMZDA

#6 - If/when criticized, understand the person's perspective, acknowledge it and put an appropriate action plan in place. Becoming defensive is a sign of a small mind and ego and ultimately is wasteful and ineffective toward fixing a possible gap from which the criticism has resulted. I have found it to be less taxing and draining simply to listen, process and then figure out how to address the criticism with an air of calm confidence.

#7 - Be conscious of the latent or unseen impacts of stress and anxiety in yourself and others. Be mindful of how you and others are processing stress. Give everyone (including yourself) the benefit of the doubt that everyone is sailing with headwinds, many of which are below the surface and difficult to process. People will have bad days and not be their best. Including you. We have always been and will continue to be fallible. Again, leaders will have a particular role to play here in creating an appropriate atmosphere that encourages teammates to be conscious of stress, its effects, and how we can help each other cope with it. Manager must be even more observant during this time also, since just about all of us now work in a distributed fashion where it may be more difficult to notice the same things you would in a normal office setting.

#8 - Have empathy for the doubters, slow reactors, nay-sayers but don't be slowed down by them. Per the above point, I have observed that there are likely plenty of individuals who are shell-shocked in some way, bordering on being paralyzed by fear, both of this virus and of the unknown future state. These folks are likely to eventually come around. In the meantime, or even when they finally do come around, resist the "I told you so" temptation, as it's counter-productive at best. But also don't become infected with their fear. Pay attention to how/when you interact with these individuals so that you have all your necessary faculties to neutralize their negativity and ensure it doesn't drain you. In my observations, the below graph is an accurate representation depicting how we process the ups/downs of our morale, energy, and performance, over time. But while we may all follow this curve in a similar pattern, we don't all experience it at the same pace NOR at the same time.

(I do not know the original author- if anyone can please share, I will update)

#9 - Practice mindfulness and gratitude. I recommend Sam Harris' podcast. If you are reading this, it's highly likely you are already extremely fortunate from a macro-perspective and have much to be grateful for, even with the horror of the current global pandemic not fully contained as of the time of this post. Still, we have much to be thankful for and must take efforts to remember this, especially during times of crisis. Should you be struggling to think of anything to be thankful for and truly in despair, please reach out to a loved one to start a conversation. Or DM me and let's meet each other over Zoom. In the meantime is a reflection on gratitude by Sam Harris which may point you in the right direction.

#10 - Exercise. You don't need to go full beast mode, but doing any little physical activity is better than endlessly watching the horrible news 24/7.Easy options: jump rope, squats, situps, pushups, mountain climbers, stretch, yoga. Repeat on the hour for a few hours. The next time you do it, try to do a few more than what you did last time. Repeat.

#11 - Take care of your team and others. If your team feels supported and that you have their back when things go belly up, they will do what they have been trained and hired to do. Remind them periodically (preferably during times of calm) that their learning how to operate under high stress, which oftentimes is not very enjoyable, is a sign of growth, and that you are seeing them improve. Ask them to reflect on how they are doing what they do in such difficult times of stress and how they manage their stress. An easy way for you to temporarily stop feeling sorry or depressed is to try and help someone else.

#12 - Maintain positive affirmations that help protect your headspace. This will help you do all of the above better. You may feel this one to be a bit new-agey and like an optional nice to have self-help tip, like practicing your smile or handshake. That would be a mistake. This tip is perhaps the most important thing you could do to remain functional during this time for yourself and others. Some of the positive affirmations that I have been using these past few months include:

Control the Controllables.

Whether you think you can or can't do it, you are right.

All I can do are the things I can do today.

Everything is temporary.

That's it from me - I just wanted to share in case this may be helpful to anyone else trying to find ways to work effectively through this crisis we all are facing.

Do you have some additional tips on how you have been working through a crisis? Please share in the comments below. Above all, please stay indoors, practice good hygiene, and look out for others.