In the midst of all that is going on right now, let us pause and remember that we are not the first people to face a significant challenge in the history of the world. Previous generations have experienced world wars, epidemics and even a depression which included a drought in the midwest called the dust bowl. While the numbers of people who can remember this are quite elderly, we must remember that there have been survivors of these past difficulties. Now, it is our time to stand up to these complex, adaptive challenges and to survive as well.
And over the course of time and history, there have been many companies who also have had to face major crisis events. There are numerous books filled with the fascinating stories about how they did this.
One book that is helping me to maintain perspective was written by Jim Collins and is called Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap. . . and Others Don't (HarperBusiness, 2001). In it, Collins writes about how good companies became great companies even in the midst of challenging circumstances. As he explains, “In every case, the management team responded with a powerful psychological duality. On the one hand, they stoically accepted the brutal facts of reality. On the other hand, they maintained an unwavering faith in the endgame, and a commitment to prevail as a great company despite the brutal facts.” He called this capacity to embrace a psychological duality the “Stockdale Paradox”.
As he explains, “The name refers to Admiral Jim Stockdale, who was the highest-ranking United States military officer in the “Hanoi Hilton” prisoner-of-war camp during the height of the Vietnam War. Tortured over twenty times during his eight -year imprisonment from 1965 to 1973, Stockdale lived out the war without any prisoner’s rights, no set release date, and no certainty as to whether he would even survive to see his family again.”
When asked how he survived, Stockdale replied, “I never lost faith in the end of the story…. I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade…. This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end - which you can never afford to lose - with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
Recognizing the psychological duality, Jim Collins writes, “The Stockdale Paradox is a signature of all those who create greatness, be it in leading their own lives or in leading others. Churchill had it during the Second World War. Admiral Stockdale, like Viktor Frankl before him, lived it in a prison camp. And while our good-to-great companies cannot claim to have experienced either the grandeur of saving the free world or the depth of personal experience of living in a POW camp, they all embrace the Stockdale Paradox. It didn’t matter how bleak the situation or stultifying their mediocrity, they all maintained unwavering faith that they would not just survive, but prevail as a great company. And yet, at the same time, they became relentlessly disciplined at confronting the most brutal facts of their current reality.”
When we as leaders embrace the Stockdale Paradox, we will lead with questions rather than answers, engage in strategic dialogue rather operational blaming, and we will own our decisions rather than finding fault with others’ decisions and actions.
Reading Jim Collin’s writing about the Stockdale Paradox, reminds me of the work by Ryan Holiday in his book, The Obstacle Is The Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph, Penguin, 2014. As he explains, “Every obstacle is unique to each of us. But our responses they elect are the same: Fear. Frustration. Confusion. Helplessness. Depression. Anger.” And all of us have been experiencing fear, frustration, confusion, helplessness, depression and anger during the last couple of weeks of social distancing and sheltering in place. COVID-19 feels like one massive obstacle that is impeding our actions and our choices on a daily basis.
At times like these, we as leaders need to remember something Andy Grove, former CEO of INTEL wrote: “Bad companies are destroyed by crisis. Good companies survive them. Great Companies are improved by them.” We need to think of COVID-19 not just as a problem or obstacle to our success as much as an opportunity to improve. We can improve how we work, communicate, collaborate and problem solve. We can improve how we serve our customers and our communities. We also can improve ourselves. This is not easy work but it is, nevertheless, important work.
First, now is the time to check your perspective on all that is happening around you and within you. You may not be able to control the big picture or all the elements within your company, your division, your department or even your team. But you can control your mind and your emotions. Now is not the time to panic as a leader. As Ryan Holiday wrote: “It’s a huge step forward to realize that the worst thing to happen is never the event, but the event and losing your head.”
Second, now is the time for right actions rather than just action. We need to remember that leaders get what they exhibit and what they tolerate. We need to be consciously role modeling clarity, thoughtfulness, compassion, and persistence. We should not tolerate disrespect, shaming, or blaming. We are all in this together and we need to stand together in it. As Ryan Holiday reminds us: “We forget: In life, it doesn’t matter what happens to you or where you came from. It matters what you do with what happens and what you’ve been given.”
Third, now is the time to focus on progress over perfection. Operational excellence happens on a day to day basis. We move forward step by step. It requires disciplined thought and disciplined action. And leaders have to be extremely disciplined right now. As Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao write in their book, Scaling Up Excellence: Getting To More Without Settling For Less (Crown Business, 2014): “Scaling requires grinding it out, and pressing each person, team, group, division, or organization to make one small change after another in what they believe, feel, or do…. When big organizations scale well, they focus on moving a thousand people forward a foot at a time, rather than moving one person forward by a thousand feet.” Now is the time to move a thousand people forward one step at a time.
This week, let us remember the words of Marcus Aurelius: “Our actions may be impeded . . . but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
As always, we need to stay strong, stay healthy, and stay safe. I look forward to seeing you on the other side.
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