Stop Following The Crowd

I really try to avoid layoff talk in my blog. To me, it is unneeded news and perspective on something other news outlets will be covering much better than I do. I hate layoffs. I hate being a part of them. I don’t like breaking the news to people. I don’t know a single person that enjoys it either. I think they should be avoided at all costs.

I could go on. So when I heard that CitiGroup will be laying off 53,000 people by the end of Q1 2009, I didn’t feel like writing about it because other layoffs have occurred and more will continue to happen. It is exhausting.

That’s when I thought it might be a good catalyst for something that has been bugging me for a long time. It is something that both businesses and employees could learn from too. And it has something to do with following the crowd.

Businesses And The “Me Too!” Argument

When the economy is in the toilet like it is today, some businesses are legitimately impacted by the change and need to make adjustments to their workforce. CitiGroup may or may not be in this group but I am inclined to believe that they are impacted significantly. It is a really crummy situation in general but even best laid plans can get blasted by a bad economy.

There is another group of businesses that piggy back on a bad economy to blame or fix things that were previously broken. For example:

• A company that was way overstaffed to begin with now uses the down economy as an excuse to cut or relocate staff that they should have done two years ago. By the way, two years ago, the employees they are letting go could have found a job much easier. Now? Not so much.
• Instead of dealing with temporary lower profitability, building employee goodwill and branding yourself as a stable company, CEO decides on cutting 5% of the workforce to hit his profitability bonus for that year. Short term gains for long term pain.
• An employer asks some of its employees if they will become 1099 employees and become responsible for their own health care, retirement and taxes. If things get worse (or you were just trying to get rid of them anyway), you can cut them and there won’t be a need to pay them severance.

A lack of leadership coupled with short term focus results in a business suffering much more if they would have sucked it up or taken responsibility for their mistakes earlier.

Employees Aren’t Much Better Than Employers

Unfortunately, the same crowd follow technique plagues employees as well. Some of the best people I know are sitting at their desks this Monday morning paralyzed because they don’t think they can get another job or start a business in this climate. Some of the things I hear:

• There is more competition than ever for the best positions at companies. Never mind that you still may be the best choice for the position.
• I can’t sell my spouse or my friends on changing jobs in this climate. Never mind that it doesn’t make much sense to stay at an unstable company in this climate.
• I couldn’t possibly find financing for my business idea with the economy going in the hole. Never mind that investors are always looking for better bets than whatever is failing currently.

Never mind any of that stuff. If everyone else is afraid of doing anything and they must have good reasons for doing so. The only guarantee is that you’ll never rise above what the crowd is doing if you always think the crowd is right.

A Call To Action

Ultimately, you have to find your own motivation to stop following the crowd. If you don’t, I can’t tell you how to deal with the uneasiness of jumping into the deep end when you can’t see beyond the surface. I can’t tell you how to deal with the spouse or your friends who want to tell you what you can’t do. I can’t tell you how to deal with a skeptical investor or feeling like you’re out in front of this market naked and cold.

I can’t tell you how to deal with any of that stuff because if you don’t have your own motivation, there is no advice that will help you succeed. And if you find your motivation, then you’ll find a way to deal with all of these things. Seems like a cop-out doesn’t it? Too bad! I can’t help you with this.

I know where my motivation is and it excites me. It also scares me. It is time to find yours and stop following the crowd.