In Times Of Crisis, Cut Into The Wakes

Years ago I was learning to water ski. The instructor was in the boat bellowing instructions over the sound of the engine. Not the most ladylike of teachers, but she knew what she was doing. I was quite pleased with myself as I managed to stay up. Then she shouted “cross the wake.” “What?”  “Cross the wake.”

Right, I thought, I’m ready for this. I turned to the rushing water and next thing I knew I was hurled through the air, smashed down into the water and totally winded. Coughing and spluttering I heard “you didn’t cut into the wake, mean it next time.”


What on earth does "mean it" mean? She tutted and turned away.

So much for water ski lessons.

Last week I was talking with a manager who was having a ghastly time. He was in a state of overwhelm because the company was trying to launch several new products at the same time.  Even though they thought they had all the necessary steps in place, there were curve balls still derailing them and everyone was already working flat out.

As the days passed he found himself less and less able to make a decision, he kept putting off calling people, he stopped talking to his staff, he began worrying about picking up the phone in case someone asked him a question he thought he couldn’t answer.

The company was hurtling towards the product release deadlines and he spent 18 hours a day worrying excessively and sleeping badly. The more he tried to concentrate, the more he worried and he quickly became exhausted. Even the smallest decisions remained unresolved. Logic drained from his brain.

Not only was the company in crisis, but he was now personally in a state of crisis because his focus had shifted to the pain of failure. With raised blood pressure, racing heart and an over secretion of stress hormone cortisol, he was unable to consider any new input from others and he was at best ineffective, at worst a liability.

If he had managed the problems as they appeared, the situation wouldn’t have got out of hand, but he’s a nice guy and started out a bit too relaxed.

This manager was doing what I did when I was learning to water ski, he was creeping up to the challenges instead of cutting into the wakes. By so doing he was compounding the problems, being ineffective, and his level of worry rendered him impotent

If you are in overwhelm or crisis, be decisive, be strong, gather momentum and cut into the wakes.

You will stay a lot drier.

I am a business neuroscientist who offers solutions to improve business relationships, communication, leadership qualities, decision-making, sales, marketing and problem...