Business Planning

Never Waste a Good Crisis

John Bradley "JJ" Jackson

29 Apr 2009 • 1 min read

Never Waste a Good Crisis.

These clever words are attributed to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. I think I understand what she means.

It often takes a crisis to get people to take action. People hate to change but will willingly do so if they have to (though not a day before). You know what I mean—the heart attack victim gets the bypass and then takes up running and eating right. The city finally installs a stoplight after a major accident. And so it goes.

This current economic instability has challenged many of us to take a hard look at our spending and to evaluate what’s really important. Companies have slimmed down with layoffs and cost cutting.

A recent example: during the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work went from a rare perk to a global necessity almost overnight. Many organizations discovered that flexible work arrangements actually improved productivity and employee satisfaction. Now, hybrid and remote models are part of standard business practice which is something that might have taken decades to adopt without the crisis.

Yes, a crisis can motivate you to change. But I prefer the advice from former GE CEO Jack Welch, who said, “Change before you have to.” That’s really crisis planning—it just makes more sense to me.