How to turn a problem into an opportunity?

Covid panic, confusion and stress is palpable. Companies have taken steps to lay off people, cut costs, apply for bankruptcy, stimulus packages. With the current COVID-19 challenges that organizations face, senior executives are finding it difficult to conceptualize the repositioning; let alone explain it to their employees. The most common question that is arising is ‘What next?’ ‘How do we prepare ourselves?’

It’s true that Covid-19 has constrained people and businesses in many ways. Yes, there is a problem. But ..

With a problem comes an opportunity. You can get resourceful when constrained with resources.

When you only look at constraints or losses, be it loss of market share, loss of projects, loss of revenue, glooming economy, it becomes hard to see the other side. You dip into narrow thinking, what is known as “tunnel vision”.

Instead clean your lens! Now is the time to get creative, innovative and collaborative to build great teams, products and services. As the saying goes, You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. In Chinese, the word for crisis also bears the meaning of opportunity though native Chinese speakers say that it’s not literally true.

Kodak is a classic example of failing to adapt to changing times. Unless you want to be the next Kodak, Here are 3 approaches to dig for the opportunity in the problem

Reframe –

Reframe the current situation to look beyond what you can immediately see. Step into the situation with a beginner’s mindset without carrying the baggage of your past. Look at the situation with a new pair of lens, an open mind and think of what else is possible. Imagine if you had a magic wand, what would be your different options to get the desired outcome you seek? Whose support could you lean on to help you challenge your assumptions and see across industries, geographies and markets?

Get resourceful –

Tap into your existing resources. Your people, products (old and new), partners, suppliers. Is there anyone with whom could you collaborate with? What can you do to avoid layoff? How can you make use of your existing resources (people, products, infrastructure, delivery channels etc) to best serve what is important now?

Reinvent –

In the current situation, many of your products and services may not be relevant right now. If you do not offer value to consumers, you’re likely to be overtaken quickly. So the next question is how can you make it relevant? What needs to change? How can you reinvent your business model, technology or product to solve a new problem? As Dorie Clark, consultant and author of ‘Reinventing You’ says, reinventing your business model doesn’t have to be new and this may be an opportunity to do so.

Here is a very interesting insight from MIT Sloan for organizations to get resourceful and come out stronger.

Hope you find time from your frenetic activities to expand your vision and look for what else is possible. Allow yourself to think more expansively, customize potential solutions to the current need, capture opportunities and prepare for the future that emerges.

What can you do to turn the problem into an opportunity?