Turn Hard Times Into Goat Stew

A short post in the HBR Editor’s Blog called Business Models for Bad Times showcases this quote from the book The Forever War:

One day near Kandahar I came across a minefield, which was hardly extraordinary in itself, and next to it a man named Juma Khan Gulalai. The field was bright and green. Gulalai was a butcher and he’d set up his table there, his apron and knives at the ready. Every day, Gulalai explained, a goat would wander into the green grassy field to graze for its meal and step on a land mine and blow apart. Gulalai would walk into the field and retrieve the carcass–braving the mines himself as he did–throw the old goat up on the table and carve up its meat for sale

My take: This is a bit gruesome, I know. But it does get the point across that there are always opportunities. As a kid, I heard this lesson in much less disturbing phrases like: “Make lemonade out of lemons,” “turn bruised apples into applesauce,” and “bake banana bread with overripe bananas.”

The insight is clear: Even in the worst of times, find a way to make the best of it. And don’t give up on innovation. So execs need to focus on the new management imperative called Turn Innovation Into A Continuous Process, even (more) in a recession.

The bottom line: Remember the lesson of Juma Khan Gulalai!