Our managers believed they did everything right. The reality is that this was the case at a time of prosperity and high consumption in all sectors. The return of summer announces a general crisis of consumption, preceded by a wave of closings, contests and massive liquidations. The bad news is this. The good news is that it is possible to face the crisis successfully and also come out stronger with a greater market share than before.
Let's go step by step. Are your managers unconsciously incompetent? How do you know this is happening?
Before continuing, let us see the steps towards knowledge that are 4. A matrix can be drawn up where the phases that companies go through and therefore their managers are clearly identified. They are as follows:
Let's give an example applied to the current crisis that is looming over Spain and that is already true and palpable:
Have your sales fallen? Have you decided to hire more commercials? Do you think that is the solution to your problems? Are you checking the order intake every day? Do you think your situation is better than your competition? Are you calculating how far you can go down if the market gets worse? Have you decided to reduce your annual budget by 20%?
If the answers have been YES to most questions, we have a problem. We are unconsciously incompetent. We are not aware that we will be unable to solve the current problem. It is not a good situation. If we study the environment properly, we will conclude that the crisis will affect us shortly. We have a company that knows how to operate in growth environments, but it has a problem in the current environment that will compromise its future.
We pass to state 2, consciously incompetent.
Sales are down, it seems that the competition is lowering prices and they do sell. Our response to the crisis is to wait for it to pass. We are fully immersed in the phase, "consciously incompetent." This is an achievement. Let's keep going.
Let's prepare phase III, working phase II, because we are still consciously incompetent. Assume you are in crisis and get going. Two semesters of reduction lead to a recession and we are in a crisis situation. At that time, the need to launch an action plan should be passed on to the Board of Directors and the management team.
Next, it is time to define the crisis team and the need for support from external experts in restructuring management. The internal team and external experts must be brought together and the key-support or strategic processes reviewed. It is also time to define what kind of crisis we have before us: strategic, operational, results or liquidity.
Then it is time to consider how much what I do costs me. It is also important to know what actions to take depend on me. Focusing our efforts on the actions in our hands increases the chances of success. It is important to have a 25-day, 100-day, and 12-month plan.
He's still in phase II, consciously incompetent, but we're on the path to being consciously competent. It all depends on how we deal with this problem and on whether in the end we manage to overcome the crisis, since work does not count but results.
The best way to face a crisis is to introduce experienced external managers to your team. You will accelerate phase II and get to reach phase III earlier.
Resolve this crisis and make the work done your own, reflect on what you have done, think before acting and do not stop. Learn and evolve. You are in phase III, consciously competent. He knows that he is doing what he should, although he does not apply these mental processes to everything he does.
Keep working and you will get into the next phase, unconsciously competent, you will naturally resolve the crisis. It will detect it before it happens, or it will even always have preventive measures and alarms so that the next crisis does not affect it. She has become so competent that she will be truly unaware that she is solving a problem even before it appears, and that is being competent, even if unconsciously.
Posted by improven
