First, a quick disclosure: the title of this post is blatantly plagiarized from the title of a book by Andy Grove (former Intel CEO). Although the main point of the book is that a successful manager should be adept at using moments of crisis to improve her company, the reason why I’m using it here is to convey my current state of mind, and honestly, what I think should be the state of mind of every member of the team.
Here are some key facts for context:
1. We are in the midst of the third wave of COVID cases.
2. We (the American people) seem to be experiencing COVID fatigue, leading to having a more lax attitude towards wearing masks and social distancing, and increasing the chances for the virus to have spread over Thanksgiving.
3. The Trump administration’s approach to fighting this pandemic encouraged states to choose their own policies and tactics; so, the restrictions on our ability to do work varied by state. At APM, we were able to weave through the different states’ rules to work in late Spring and early Summer. With a Biden administration, the likelihood of a more cohesive or standardized Federal approach to fighting the virus will increase. Even though I believe a cohesive strategy will be good for the country and would help us contain the number of cases until a vaccine is available, this could theoretically restrict our ability to do work around February and March 2021, which are our prime months for surveying and getting install quotes on our customers’ hands. If we have fewer surveys and fewer install quotes this winter, we will inevitably have less work next summer.
Do I know for sure that the scenario above will happen? No, but only the paranoid survive. Consequently, we have to operate as if this worst-case scenario will happen and find ways to mitigate its impact on the business.
This is what it means in practical terms:
- We need to aggressively pursue every chance we get to do work (if this sounds familiar it is because this was our attitude back in April).
- If we need more manpower to do 1., then we need to be relentless in our search for staff to join APM or for subcontractors who can work at our quality standards.
- At the individual level, we need to remain disciplined about social distancing and wearing masks.
There’s nothing complex about this. The core of this strategy is the attitude we bring to the challenge. As a team we have fought hard to stay busy and productive through this year, which means we already know how to do it, now we just have to push ourselves to sustain this pace through the finish line.
The good news is that there is a finish line. With a vaccine in the horizon, a more cohesive approach to ending this pandemic, and better weather after the winter passes, I am hopeful that we’ll be able to fully reopen the office at some point in Q2-2021 and more importantly, that we will resume our traditional clambakes.
Until then, let’s keep pushing. We’ll be a stronger team on the other side!