It would be profoundly reassuring to view the current economic crisis as simply another rough spell that we need to get through.  If you are waiting for things to return to normal you might be very disappointed. Your focus on short term performance goals such as cost-cutting, sales, and market share growth might turn out to be necessary, but totally insufficient to safeguard the long term viability of your organization. “Normal” may in fact be a thing of the past. Regulation is back and will even influence your challenge space more than before and it will have the potential to block your innovation and future growth.

Charles Handy, the British management thinker and author, once said that “…most of management seems common sense. The trick is to glimpse the sense before it becomes common. That’s what gives you the competitive edge.”  His words have particular value for management and labour today, at the auto companies and other organizations trying to come to grips with this recession. Some organizations are searching for a “new model”,  others are wondering if capitalism is on the brink. They may be headed in the right direction, but my own feeling about what could work, and what offers the most hope, is based neither on introspection nor ideology. My best feeling is based on what’s probably been on the minds – though not on the negotiating table – of managers and workers for some time, that “us versus them” no longer works, and that a new deal must be struck. Trust must be built and attention must be paid to the enduring contribution that management and labour collaboration can make to the success of the organization. To me, this seems like eminent common sense.

We kunnen niet genoeg herhalen hoe zwaar de crisis is. De wereldeconomie is (nog altijd) in vrije val, het begrotingstekort loopt op, het aantal faillissementen stijgt en de ingeschatte werkloosheidsgroei neemt ongeziene proporties aan. Beleidsmakers hebben inmiddels alle wapens die ze hebben in de strijd gegooid : immense versoepeling van het begrotingsbeleid, conventionele en onconventionele monetaire expansie, biljoenen dollar liquiditeitsverstrekking, herkapitaliseren, overheidswaarborgen en verzekeringen om de schaarste aan liquiditeiten en kredieten te keren en massale steun aan de groeilanden. Economen in het buitenland, zoals Roubini, Krugman, Stiglitz,  en Geert Noels bij ons, waarschuwen inmiddels dat optimisme voorbarig is en dat deze oplossingen misschien wel niet tot de verhoopte effecten zullen leiden.

Ook in bedrijven zie je dat er vooral teruggegrepen wordt naar de oplossingen van het verleden.