From the Managing Principal: Crisis Mode

Contemporary self-help literature, particularly as it relates to management, leadership, and personal growth, is lousy with references to the "fact" that the Chinese symbols for crisis and opportunity are one and the same. This same pop-psychology body of literature then goes into great detail about how crises are really opportunities to do something remarkable with one's business, career, or life.

Although the whole issue with the Chinese characters is generally accepted as a misconception, it is one I am happy to perpetuate to serve my own ends as a manager as I selflessly create "opportunities" throughout the firm. Since the pop-psychologists are sure that opportunities can be borne from crises, it would only make sense to gin up a crisis and take advantage of all the opportunities springing forth.

The real task here is not opportunity identification, but rather crisis creation. Here are a few examples of how to create a crisis so that you too can reap the opportunities:

Start an initiative with no credible research Research, smesearch! My motto is that if you hear something once, it's a rumor; once you've heard it twice, it is data and you are ready to roll. Once your crisis is in motion, you may need to fan the flames a bit in order to generate the appropriate amount of alarm. In our office, we call this the Chicken Little approach—based on very little evidence, we are able to conclude that the sky is falling and we are more than willing to spread the word.

Use this approach with caution as you really don't want a crisis to get out of hand, thereby reducing the ability of people to see the opportunity involved. Examples of crisis creation gone terribly wrong include New Coke, the Alternative Minimum Tax, and the Real Housewives of Any City. We could go on but in the interest of space will leave it here. Feel free to send your own examples along for our compendium.

Let subtle misunderstandings linger Communicate infrequently and poorly. If you...