Page 158 - MS Year in Review 2020

In a Crisis, Time is of the Essence

Just as in a fire, time is of the essence in an organizational crisis. If the company
cannot move quickly enough to create the management capabilities and

management systems (“organizational infrastructure”) requited to support its
operations, it will be at risk for failure just as at Osborne Computer. Similarly,

Westfield was seriously “hemorrhaging” after the acquisition of Channel Ten.
Perceiving this, Frank Lowey moved quickly to “stop the bleeding” and got rid of the
Channel Ten.

Need to get Buy-in to a Vision

Both Sears and Allegis are examples of the failure to get buy-in to a new vision. The
key lesson of these leadership failures is the warning to leaders about the need to

get buy-in to their proposed visions.

OTHER LESSONS

In addition to the lessons concerning the causes of crises, the principles of solutions

to crises, and the lessons about leadership failures in dealing with crises, there are
a few other lessons.

One of these important lessons is that the “ingredients” for a successful solution to
a crisis might already be in place. However, it will take a skilled leader to utilize

these ingredients to orchestrate a solution to the crisis.

This was the case at Disney: The “ingredients” for Disney’s success were there; but
it took a skilled leader like Michael Eisner to create a path to future success utilizing
those ingredients.

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