By William Seidman
In the midst of chaos, maybe more now than ever, attitude matters. How you handle yourself and your company in the midst of worldwide financial turmoil now matters a lot. The tendency is for companies to react by immediately and drastically cutting costs, because costs are controllable and cutting them appears to solve part of the problem quickly. This can be destructive, though : don’t destroy the assets and capabilities you need for recovery.
A better way to think about the current downward spiral is to remember that instability requires optimization. Reducing costs may be part of that optimization, but so is improving productivity. If you haven’t already, identify your best people and commit to cutting costs and improving productivity. Optimization and a positive attitude are complementary.