Читать книгу Scaling Conversations - Dave MacLeod - Страница 10

Crisis simply means a time of intense difficulty. All our communities, businesses, and personal lives contain crises. The real question about crisis is not if one will happen, but rather when one will happen next, and how soon will the one after it follow on its heels.

The year I write this book, 2020, has been a whirlwind of crisis. In a matter of months, the world has suffered more than a million deaths attributed to the Coronavirus. Economies are extremely uncertain. Racial tensions are increasing. Futures of all sorts are unknown. If there is one thing we can agree on globally, it's that we are experiencing crises.

We humans are resilient, however, and the good news is that you have survived 100% of your worst days so far. Not only survived, in many cases you've grown, learned, adapted, and even thrived. Crisis inspires change, and often for the better. As a result of the global unification around the issue of ensuring Black Lives Matter, billions of dollars (an estimated $7 billion at the time of writing) have been pledged by corporations to attempt to make irreversible and sustainable change in the areas of racism and discrimination. Trillions of dollars have been allocated in relief from the global pandemic. Businesses around the world have embraced remote communication and pivoted to survive, and sometimes even flourish, in this new world where people are more remotely connected than ever before.

Crisis, even more than necessity, is the true mother of invention.

And crisis contains an interesting element. One we need to focus on and leverage if we are going to succeed as a species on this planet.

A crisis arrives and causes pain. A solution is created and we experience joy. But something bad occurs with that solution and we're back in the pit of crisis. Then we react again and things seem to be fixed and happy. But then another, unrelated, crisis occurs. Damn. So, we make a big change and the change is good. But the change also causes a different kind of crisis and we need to regroup, adjust, and relaunch. This process is best visualized as hills and valleys:

Crisis after crisis is one way to perceive our organizations, our society, and ultimately our lives. And if we left it there, it paints a pretty dismal picture. Crises after crises occur until a final crisis occurs and it's all over. But there's more. And there is hope. Crisis, like all things in the universe that have a position different from the norm, contains potential energy. That potential is growth and connection. I'll explain both.