How to profit from a crisis

Shot of woman wearing a medical face mask.

We will never return to our familiar pre-crisis reality.

Shot of Dresden destroyed after the aerial bombing attack.

Pandemics, wars and other social crises create new attitudes, new needs and new behaviours.

Shot of stock exchange trader shocked by falling market. 

In recessions and downturns, 86% of companies remain stagnant or fail. Only 14% outperform by investing in new growth areas.

new

advanced

avant-garde

different

original

revolutionary

strange

unfamiliar

untried

unusual

newfangled

new

Shot of stars trailing through the night sky.

Imagination - the capacity to create, evolve and exploit mental models of things or situations that don’t yet exist - is the crucial factor in seizing and creating new opportunities and finding new paths of growth.

Shot of first Lego system.

Lego produced its first plastic Lego brick in 1947 during a post-war downturn that decimated supplies and turnover. Today the company sells 75 billion Lego bricks each year.

Shot of first iPod.

Apple launched its first iPod in 2001 during a recession that saw a 33% drop in revenue. That single new product sparked an era of high growth that led to the iPhone and a transformed product portfolio.

Shot of someone standing at the end of a pier looking into the vista.

Imagination and new ideas allow us to do better than merely survive by adapting to a new environment. Imagination and new ideas allow us to thrive by shaping a new environment.

Upside down shot of someone standing at the end of a pier looking into the vista.

What new disruptive ideas, products and services can we offer to shape a new future?

Flipped shot of someone standing at the end of a pier looking into the vista.

What surprising inputs, accidents and anomalies can we use to prompt reframing and rethinking to discover new possibilities?

Flipped shot of no one at the end of a pier.

What single, open communication system can we introduce or repurpose for sharing new ideas and scaling innovations?

Right angle shot at the end of a pier with vertical horizon.

What rapid, low-cost experiments can we encourage to find new ways of doing new things?

Shot of growing wheat.

What can we do next to find a new path to new growth?


Older note Newer note