The skilled crisis manager resists the temptation to put strategy in the drawer. For it is precisely when the crisis hits that the strategy is tested.

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Corona, war and climate crisis. One crisis replaces another - and creates the next. Broken supply chains push up inflation, war pushes up energy prices, which in turn contribute to uncertain markets.

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That's why good crisis management has come into its own. What do you do when your business model suddenly breaks down?

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My guess is that it is precisely in the crisis that the strategy will be put to the test. Yet I often find that small and medium-sized organisations put their strategy in the drawer when the crisis hits.

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Before I elaborate on why it can be dangerous, I want to make it clear: Good advice is cheap when you don't have your hand on the stove. I know, because I've made a big bet myself with starting my own business in 2021. Sleepless nights are a dime a dozen. So dear crisis-ridden entrepreneur: If you feel provoked by my point, I understand.

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ALSO READ: Managers who don't understand strategy are taboo

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When strategy is put aside, I think it's because business leaders are just people too. And it's human to react more to gut feelings when pressure mounts. On a very practical level, I also find that it's about lack of time. When problems are queuing up, you deal with the most urgent first - then move on to the next. And then the long view has to wait.

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At the same time, we have a traditional image of the crisis leader as someone who can take lightning-fast decisions and cut the organisation to the bone with a particular cynicism and vigour - without too much regard for the future.

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The problem is that if strategy is only something we do in "peacetime", you never get to it. The skilled crisis manager therefore focuses on the present, but also sets aside serious time to reassess the future, even though the world could quickly look different next week.

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"My experience is that the continuous reassessment of the assumptions makes it much easier to adapt the strategy relatively quickly."

- Sanne Markwall

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Here, old notions about the life expectancy of strategies must be laid to rest. In the vast majority of industries, the time is past when a strategy can be one year in the making and then live unchallenged for three years. Today, strategy is something that needs to be reassessed and adapted much more frequently. In many places, adaptation starts almost immediately after the final dot is drawn.

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Isn't that a waste of time, I sometimes hear business leaders say. My answer is no.

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Of course, when conditions change, so must strategy. Because when conditions change, it is necessary to assess whether your company is on the right track.

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No one can predict the future, but instead you can ask yourself and your organisation: if these assumptions are the new normal, what will the situation be for our company in three years?

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In my experience, the continuous reassessment of assumptions makes it much easier to adapt the strategy relatively quickly. At the same time, it gives employees and partners alike a sense of support and optimism when management is able both to adjust its course in the light of the current situation and to explain where the new course will take the company.

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ALSO READ: Remember the employees you have - before chasing new ones

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This column was published on Jyllands-Posten Finance and in Jyllands-Posten, Erhverv on 28 November 2022.

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