Written by Schon Condon in September, 2011

As I have touched on in my blog the recent changes on world markets have been drastic but not fatal, in one sense sudden in another predicable, probably necessary and most fundamentally it contains some severe warnings and lessons for us all.

That situation was almost immediately followed by the outbreak of rioting within Great Britain which has sadly involved the loss of human life as well as disastrous effects on the country.  Within that I’m confident that there will be a number of businesses that will no doubt fail.  Whether it stretches from simply not being insured through being in a declining market that does not warrant the reconstruction of the business or worst, the business owners have lost heart and faith leaving them with no desire to continue.  Again with these incidents there are warnings and lessons that must be taken.

For those frequent users of the net you can review any number of forums, chat rooms and of course YouTube will offer a wide range of views, reasons and most important the way in which the various situations, particularly the riots, can and should be rectified.  All, sorry many are worthy of reading/watching and as you can appreciate there are those that are simply not worth the effort.

But in looking forward let’s at least consider some of the following.

• If you are charged with the job of managing an organisation, be it a club, a company or even a nation remember your primary responsibility rests with that organisation, not your team, or your mate around the corner or some other party.  It is also not a stage upon which to grandstand for the sake of attention.
• There are real issues and side issues.  Focus on the real issues and ignore the side ones, reality will prove that you did not do this on the way through, afterwards.   Unfortunately, the media will endeavour to shift your focus.
• Create relevant rules that are both capable of being enforced and in fact are reasonably enforced.  Society as a whole is now more capable and more communicated, to prove that rules are neither fair or enforced will be ignored and the ramifications can be both expedient and catastrophic.
• Fully appreciate the full impact of your actions and the collateral impact that it will have.  That is not to say that some decisions cause grief, it’s just that you know what it is and where it will be felt and you can ensure steps are taken to minimise the impact.
• Do not overburden those around you with ‘rules of minutia,’ set boundaries and give guidance to enable people to operate within those rules.

This article is not meant to be a panacea or even the salvation, but as events unfold we must be looking to see what we can learn from them and how we can improve not only our own lot, but also the lot of those around us.

Some local evidence of people reacting to situations can be seen in the recent action being taken by the Australian Institute of Company Directors in seeking to reduce director liability as a result of, of all things, the recent Government Insolvency Enquiry.  They have sighted stalled national reforms and recent legal cases.  Positively they are seeking Government support for the protection of company officers who are actively endeavouring to work a company out of trouble.  The whole circumstances surrounding such steps forward should be thoroughly looked at, looked at quickly, and looked at by both sides of Government.  With the potential of what might arise from the current world financial position there could well be very little point in considering this in three years time!  A process must be developed that allows a controlled, managed and positive process for a company to move forward from a position of despair, with those involved in an honest and genuine capacity adequately protected.  Also while we’re at it we should mention that the process should most probably be two speed so that the necessary administrative burden that would be required for a publicly listed company is not dumped on the SME, or more to the point we simply end up with a process that excludes all but the largest enterprises.

It represents a real opportunity to lead, to listen and to learn.  Lets hope we don’t pass it up.  But then again, …

Now what was it that they taught me long ago about learning history, Oh that’s right; ‘the one thing we learn from history, is that we don’t.’

PLEASE NOTE:  All information contained in the articles below was correct at time of publishing.