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::: Change: crisis or serious disease?
management by Franco Cesaro
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The anxiety
for this crisis
with undefined
dimensions
clouds the
awareness
required to accept
the opportunities
that come with it ...
In the past two years, I’ve participated in
numerous conferences dedicated to THE
CRISIS attended by hordes of the curious
and anxious. Whether speaker or spectator, I
always asked everyone – up until recently –
whether or not their turnover, total sales, or
workload had dropped significantly: only very
few admitted significant effects of a certain “something”
they couldn’t fully understand that
came from somewhere they didn’t know.
Everyone was – and is still – holding their breath
awaiting “something”. Yet all, or nearly all,
act as if nothing had or has happened: summer
vacation spots are full, and our restaurants
and pizzerias are as crowded as ever. And no
one, or nearly no one, does anything, unless
they’ve been directly stricken by a loss of liquidity
(money often used so far to pay off debts
for “more” things and “more” objects).
::: Understanding the crisis and the economic
crisis
Many know that for Hippocrates (the famed
physician of Ancient Greece who coined the
term), a “crisis” is a moment of change or catharsis.
Oriental cultures also recognize that
“crisis” offers a moment of difficulty on one
hand but brings opportunities on the other.
I’m convinced that this is not a real crisis, and
it might even be better if it were. On the contrary,
I think we’re still in a phase of general uncertainty
and confusion characterized by contradictory
news and statistics of which most of
us understand very little indeed. I think we’re
only sick – still sick – and our illness is fundamentally
a question of values.
At the Trento Economics Festival held in May,
the blame was laid on nearly everyone: economists,
politicians, bankers, sociologists, etc., all
of whom castigated for not predicting the situation.
But who had time for prediction when
they were all concentrated on selling dreams,
futures, and value, or – even worse as it turned
out to be – inexistent futures and value?
 ::: When parameters change…
For many, the fundamentals – or better yet –
the foundations of classic economy lost much
of their prior importance: added value, real
buying power, the sanctity of the marketplace,
and above all, the role played by the “endorsers”
all disappeared, leaving the modern
myths of creative financing in their place.
Few recalled that the economy is a vital but still
only just one part of society. Few remembered
that an economy is based on the fair exchange
of products and services intended to solve
people’s real problems. Few remembered that
before requesting trust you initially have to
guarantee both yourself and the others, and
first of all with correct behavior; it’s not only
a question of capital, but it’s also a question
of capital: this is the lesson demonstrated by
micro-credit and the constant wide spreading
of small businesses around the globe. Big business
based on debts and promises of future
wealth is going bankrupt everywhere, except
where it has had solid and concrete projects
and plans or where it is now being bailed out
by governments.
::: An aid to our thinking
As long ago as 2004, I’d begun giving away and
recommending to clients and friends a small
but significant book by J. K. Galbraith (a man
who survived the Depression in 1929) who before dying in 2006 wanted to leave us all his
intellectual legacy and warning against certain
types of behavior already widespread at the
time, entitled “The Economy of the Scam”. Unless
you check the date of first publication, you
might think this economic and social account
of the times was written earlier this morning.
The book announces that parasitic financial
speculation and the creation of “non-value”
are two evils against which nothing can be
done and even our tried-and-tested economic
system known as capitalism is helpless.
::: Facing the sensation of confusion and
disorientation: "no panic"
For some time now I have “retired” and merely
observe phenomenon instead of dashing up
to the front in helpless witness to ranks of entrepreneurs
and sales managers telling tall stories
of quality, ethics, efficiency, and customer
support and those who deceive others all too
often blinded by lust for easy money and success
with the shout “Take the money and run!”
Both types have always separated the everyday
world of work and commercial exchange from
the “social” sphere composed of the little true
and important things that really make up our
history when all is said and done.
::: Real possibilities and broken dreams
It’s a question of personal history, the ability to
dream and to plan future in coherence with
our own possibilities: how many desperate
people flock to our shores because the television
they watched in their country led
them to imagine a glittering world in ours,
which instead offers them only fatigue
and refusal! Like them, many of our own
young people live in frustration for what
they will never be able to have or be.
I don’t know how we’ll emerge from
a situation in which so many people
hope to become rich and powerful
by playing the stock market from an
armchair at home, buying lottery
tickets, participating in a
reality show or becoming some
celebrity’s “very best friend forever”. This vision of life made of shortcuts to
success is dangerous, for this generation and
those to come.
::: The teaching of the masters
This is what’s lacking: the masters, the people
who can and must provide examples,
speaking little, doing a lot. The parents and
grandparents, master artisans, teachers are no
longer present or frequently absent, busy in
pursuit of their own careers and business. To
the younger generations, we adults no longer
represent a guarantee; we cannot offer them
the hope of becoming like us, and therefore
we are no longer believable. Thus the kids today
go searching for the myths of the past,
ideals that no longer exist, people with whom
they’ll never be seated with at dinner, a dusty
workshop, a studio piled with books and ledgers,
and end up getting together “physically”
and violently at the stadium, in the street,
in the discotheques. Or else they close up in
themselves, incapable of communicating with
others without the aid of electronic mediators
that inevitably falsify the colors and senses.
And they’re still without a future.
::: Assume your own responsibilities
We must all therefore assume responsibility
for being the witnesses and actors of our times,
living the days with little talk and lots of
silent working: it is no coincidence that young
people in trouble have often found their way
out through a simple job, sometimes even manual
labor but tangible and real, that restores
meaning to reality. I’m reliving situations that
remind me of the ’70s when I first started working:
picket signs outside the factory gates,
demonstrations, strikes, layoffs, firing, lines of
people in search of work, rows of homes on
sale, and many companies closing. We came
out of it then, and maybe even stronger than
before, with more solidarity, more aware of
the differences, but also more respectful of the
differences. We came out of it through effort,
study, creativity, firm belief in the work ethic, a
fundamental principle of our constitution, and
above all, our own personal vindication.
 ::: What can we do for ourselves and our
associates?
Even when faced with serious difficulties in the
market, we must never lose sight of the future but hold the rudder steady and intervene
with resolution in the following fundamental
areas:
Handle the de-motivation of others: the
shortage of work, customers and cash often
seriously alarms our colleagues and associates.
Keep them always updated on the events
and prospects. It’s important to maintain a
personal presence, demonstrating our optimism
for the future through hard work and
the search for new projects and innovation.
Tell them your stories: how many crises at the
personal, social, and company level have you
seen come and go?
Manage strategy: mid-term planning is what
we need now. The long-term is too far away
and unreal. In the short-term, tomorrow
or the day after, nothing or hardly anything
ever changes. The new vision of the market
of the future: who’s still going to be in the
market in three years? We’ll all be there, and
most probably different, strengthened by our
experience if we’ve been able to absorb and
process it. In this regard, making comparisons
is important.
Re-organize human, financial, and structural
resources: we must take this occasion
to renew and update whatever we can. We
must not stop investing and we must learn
how to re-begin and "re-perceive" both the
thrill and the fatigue of starting all over.
Seizing the opportunities offered by the
difficulties of others: "mors tua, vita mea"...
“beyond your death, my life” what does this
mean? Not cynicism but real life. Those who
survive – even with difficulty – this moment
will find themselves in the position of being
able to harvest what others have left behind.
This old Latin saying still applies today.
Re-position your company’s offer: rigidity
in positions acquired over time has blocked
certain companies from re-presenting themselves
in other market contexts that can create
new scenarios today.
Learn from both mistakes and success:
in dealing with clients and the market, deceleration
in certain business relationships might
not always be a bad thing, and instead provide
the occasion to ask “why?”. This would be
the best market survey imaginable for a better
understanding of the situation, and a little humility
never hurts when you’re re-inventing
yourself.
Appreciate what you’ve got: streamline
your costs and cut "waste". Sustainable development
– thinking of your company’s future
– is only possible by leaving the conditions that
enabled your company’s creation unaltered
with respect for the physical and social environment.
Waste is being eliminated more and
more as a way to recover resources.
The importance of generating your own
cash flow autonomously: credit management
can become decisive in the company’s
survival: not only credit recovery procedures,
but especially careful control over the inflows
and outflows of our own money and the funds
we have to borrow for our projects and
investments.
Don’t be ashamed to backtrack: this is
the guiding principle behind hiking in the
mountains. Turning around, admitting that
the conditions are just too rough to move
ahead and wait for better weather is not just
a strategy but good sense.
::: In conclusion
I sincerely hope that the awareness of the opportunities offered by this moment and
the desire to question yourself take the place
of static processes and prejudice. Accepting
change is both an important part of doing business
and the key to the survival of individuals
and societies.
Sudden change is sometimes the most painful
yet educational at the same time; slow change
is much less perceptible, but also gives us more
time to organize our re-programming and
planning, and in the long run is more useful
and lasting.
In the words of Galimberti (…): “If, in exchange
for the money it takes from our pockets,
the crisis (…) were to give us the concrete
possibility to begin reflecting on the absurd
rhythm our existence has assumed (…) then
the zero grow – that has so far affected only
our bank accounts and not yet the skin on our
nose or our human dignity as unfortunately
happens in so many other parts of the world
– might well be accepted as a good occasion
to straighten out not only our customs but
also the quality of our outlook on our lives
and the world”.
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