Bad times test one's character

It is incredible how much one is put to test in a crisis. I have not seen a Crisis this close from an industry that is right in the heart of the crisis. Demand in November for what we make is down 30% on the median. That is notorious in an industry with razor thin margins and very high capacity costs and full of excess capacity. Everything about the business model is value destroying (strategy 101) in the industry I am passionate about.

The sad part is how people react in the crisis. The key phenomenon I am seeing around me today is called "Grab the chair". People have clearly stopped acting in the best interest of the company. People have stopped acting to cut costs. People have stopped acting to improve morale of people down the chain. Instead people have chosen as their number one priority "Saving their chairs". Everyone will do anything and everything just to ensure that they maintain the status-quo with their jobs. No one around me sees this crisis as an opportunity to redefine the way business is done. To think how to capitalize on the opportunities when we get out of the crisis. How we can build capacity in our networks to ensure that we reduce failures and do things right first time. It is painful. Today more than ever I want to be an entrepreneur rather than an employee.