Times of turmoil can be opportunities to get back to the basics. We succeed to the extent others (customers, stakeholders and detractors) allow us to, so now’s a great time to remember what meaning we bring to their lives and re-focus our service to them. Everyone’s scared, so let’s get back to that essential human connection that brought us together in the first place.

As James Surowiecki reminds us, when the Depression hit in the late ‘20s, Post and Kellogg took a radically different approach. Post withdrew and waited for the good times to come back. Kellogg doubled down on all their marketing efforts and grabbed market dominance that continues to this day. 

I like to think about it in terms of future-proofing your business decisions. Nobody can, by definition, predict Black Swan events like Covid 19, but there are things under our control even in the midst of turmoil. 

The future of our businesses is largely determined by how people react to us in the marketplace. We go as far as they allow us to. That simple, fundamental truth is easy to forget when things are going well. We lose sight of the people whose lives we touch and focus on quarterly reports, team meetings, silos, office drama, and all the things that take up hard work life. That’s okay when things are going well, as Warren Buffett has said, when the tide goes out you can see who’s been swimming naked. 

With big shocks like Covid 19, the tide has gone out. Are you in your bathing suit or your birthday suit?

This is a great opportunity to get back to some fundamental principles, just like Kellogg did. You already know this intuitively, but why not let this shake-up help you get rid of all of the things they get in the way of what's important?

When I think of future-proofing, I think about knowing where you bring MEANING to the people that you impact; customers, clients, stakeholders, and even your detractors. When you focus on the idea of meaning and on designing the meaning that you bring to people, some interesting things happen:

You start looking for new ways to really, deeply understand them. We can persuade pretty much anyone to do pretty much anything at least once. But to understand how to bring meaning to their lives and where you fit requires you to understand them at a different level. It's not just about demographics or even behavioural data, you really need to understand their thoughts, feelings, attitudes and emotions. Until you understand them at that level it's very difficult to know how you're bringing meaning to them. 

Thinking of things in terms of meaning also offers you new ways to add value to their lives. If you truly know someone, and you truly know the meaning you bring to their life, you are also much more attuned to opportunities to enhance that experience for them. Talking about meeting and thinking about meeting makes it a lot easier to innovate because you're starting with a much more robust range of information about them. And about where you fit. 

Thinking about meaning helps break down internal organizational challenges and barriers. If your entire team is focussed on bringing meaning to the people you impact, suddenly the turf wars become a little less valuable, because they pale in comparison to your mission of meaning. If everyone needs to get together in order to drive real meaning, then sometimes that can be a common purpose that helps you lift your head above the silo walls and work together. 

Meaning can also be a great way to drive efficiency. So much of what we do as an organization is focussed on maintaining the organizational culture and structure, but it's not always the most efficient approach. If we are all focussed on delivering meaning then it's a great way to make decisions about what we should and should not spend our time on.

So which companies are doing this right? This is up to you to decide. It is different for every individual. Here's a little thought experiment for you: as you adjust to the shock of Covid 19 and the downward price of oil, think about the brands and organizations that you cannot do without. The ones where despite all of the mayhem and uncertainty, you are sticking with. It can be in your personal life, it can be in your work life, it doesn't matter which. The point is there are some brands that you will stick with throughout the turmoil. And the reason for that, we would argue, is because they bring significant meaning to your life that you can't envision doing without.

That's your answer. Take a few moments to reflect on the brands that you will stick with, think about the meaning they bring to your life, and then give your own company a good hard look in terms of what meeting you're bringing to the people that you impact. Now is a great time for reflection, and it's also a great time to retool and re-focus on what's really important. 

THE ONE TAKEAWAY: Now is the time to get closer to your customer, not farther away. They are scared, just like you.