Rice Krispies advertisement from the 1940s. — public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In the midst of quarantine and confusion, there’s a real temptation to look only forward—to tomorrow, next week, next year, when surely, everything will be “better,” or “back to normal,” or simply “safe,” whichever is your fantasy of choice. But a better tomorrow can’t come unless we pursue it with intention and wisdom, and to do that, we need to turn around and examine the lessons of the past.
Have we ever experienced a pandemic at the scale of this novel coronavirus? Not in most of our lifetimes, no. But that hardly means the past is devoid of clues for how to proceed, succeed, and thrive. Specifically, it’s valuable to look at times of past recession for inspiration in this era of perilous financial straits. How have companies approached various aspects of their business plans during previous periods of belt-tightening, and what tactics have worked better than others? (more…)
