Natasha Miller is a WSJ best-selling author, the founder and CEO of Entire Productions, and she runs Memoir Sherpa.
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As we emerge from the global pandemic only to face down an impending recession, company leaders may be, at best, moderately concerned about how their businesses will weather further economic stress. At worst, they might be tempted to hit the panic button full throttle. Every reaction is understandable: As the founder and CEO of a global event and entertainment production company, I experienced all of them in March 2020 when two things became readily apparent: That in-person events would be non-existent for the foreseeable future, and that if I didn’t do something, and fast, my business would face—with no exaggeration—complete ruin.
There’s a scene in the movie Apollo 13 where the scientists at NASA are all trying to figure out a solution to what looks to be devastating, irreversible damage to the eponymous spacecraft. One of the scientists pessimistically observes that they are on the brink of “the worst disaster NASA has ever experienced.” But chief flight director Gene Krantz (played by the great Ed Harris) defiantly responds, “I believe this will be our finest hour.” This is the spirit company leaders need to embody in times of crisis. Like the Apollo 13 team, they need to think differently about what they do, how they do it, and what they will offer their customers. And all of these changes need to be represented in their day-to-day operations.
Don’t Be Afraid To Delegate
In times of crisis, it can be tempting to batten down the hatches and go it alone. While reductions in force (RIFs) are, in many cases, an unfortunate follow-on of economic downturn (and indeed, my company did have some pandemic-related layoffs), company leaders must resist the urge to try and save a few bucks by cutting down to a skeleton crew and doing everything themselves—particularly if someone else would be far better suited to the task.
It might sound counterintuitive, but during the pandemic, I doubled down on delegating. I became even more “hands off” with my business and trusted my small team to do what needed to be done. That left me free to focus on innovation, including the critical task of devising ways to scale and evolve in the midst of pandemic shutdowns.
Accept Change And Reinvent
Conventional wisdom dictates that persevering through hardship is best, but that doesn’t mean you have to do things the way you’ve always done them. If we had refused to accept the turn of events when the world went into lockdown and persisted in trying to sell a product for which there was no longer demand, then the company would surely have failed.
Instead, we reinvented. I knew that people were going to hold a lot of meetings on Zoom. I also knew those meetings tended to be dreadful. Drawing on my entertainment production background, I created a framework for turning Zoom events into immersive and interactive variety shows that allowed viewers to engage with magicians, mentalists, musicians—headline entertainment, often performing from the confines of their own kitchens or living rooms. We still had the usual segments involving our client organizations’ core messaging and learning, but the fun bolstered what would have otherwise been the same old dull Zoom conferences everyone else was having, and made them delightful.
Expand The Limits Of Available Resources
I love technology. If someone says there’s a cool new app, I download it immediately. Being open to different modes of technology, to expanding the tools we used and the ways we used them, proved invaluable in creating a great product.
Rather than feeling restricted by video conferencing and thinking we had to constantly be in “presenter” mode, we remained agnostic for all platforms and used technology such as AllSeated’s ExVo platform to create virtual events that were as close as possible to their in-person counterparts. For example, you can design the room by changing the decor or the carpet. Producers and designers can place plants and flowers, or you can have videos that pop up as soon as they “walk into” the room. Then when they walk back, these videos can disappear into a static image or an animated GIF.
We had headlining bands performing with all the band members in different locations, with AV people virtually mixing the sounds. We’d start an event with a CEO giving a “rah-rah” speech—but then we’d have music, or entertainment, a stretching exercise, or a caricature artist that drew individual people at the event. Using an iPad, participants could see him sketching live, in real time.
By thinking about available technology and then leveraging it for unusual, surprising, and frankly cool use cases, we were able to create a compelling product.
What It Takes To Be A Trailblazer
I don’t mean to suggest the pandemic wasn’t a disaster, or that I didn’t have to go through the same process of soul-searching and hard choices that my peers did. But while many company leaders may be tempted to meet market upheaval with prognostications of doom and scaled back ambitions, that approach limits the potential for long-term growth. Companies that manage to thrive in challenging times are scrappy, resourceful, and great at thinking outside of the accepted MO. They meet dire situations head-on, looking for silver linings, new opportunities, and ways to consistently deliver the unexpected.
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