"A downturn reveals who was merely surviving and who was preparing to thrive" - Futurist Jim Carroll
What happens when you don’t do the things you should be doing when times are good? Those things you didn't do stick out like a sore thumb when times are bad!
Let’s be blunt: recessions expose the cracks that were already there.
And if we’ve spent the last 19 posts building a blueprint for resilience, innovation, momentum, and opportunity — it’s time to talk about the other side of the coin. How recessions make things go wrong, fast, for those who haven't done a great job of aligning to a changing world.
Because not everyone makes it through.
Some organizations stall out. Others collapse entirely. And the reason isn’t usually a lack of potential. It’s paralysis. A lack of organizational agility. A culture that doesn't support fast collaboration. Weakness in the product or service line. Or any other number of systemic, endemic failures that would have been leading the organization towards failure even during the best of times.
In the worst of times, all those weaknesses now becoming glaring, exposed to the harsh light of reality.
Downturns don’t just challenge your organization - they reveal it. They surface complacency. They magnify weak leadership. They stretch brittle cultures. They spotlight outdated assumptions and aging strategies. And most dangerously? They reward indecision with irrelevance!
A recession isn’t a reason to shrink.
It’s a reason to rethink.
And if you want to be ready for what comes next — you’ve got to move while others pause.
#Exposure #Resilience #Failure #Weakness #Preparation #Innovation #Leadership #Downfall #Culture #Opportunity
