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The "Black Swan" is here, now what?

~9 minute video blog where I breakdown the 4-step process in managing through a crisis, and which stage I think we're at, currently.



It's been about a month or so since I've put a video out there on social media. And the reason for that is because of two things, really.


1) Things have been very busy.

2) I've been struggling.


This post is about vulnerability and navigating and managing that struggle that you may be going through, if you're anything like me - being in that I'm a human - and so are you. I just want to share some things that I hope will be valuable for you. And, you know, every day is gonna be a little bit different when it comes to this crisis that we're all navigating. But the primary two emotions or sentiments I want to share before we go into that content are gratitude and empathy. There are people out there like the nurses, the doctors that are risking their lives quite literally to go in and take care of the people who need the care the most. They're in some cases, sewing together homemade masks to protect themselves and therefore protect their own families from this this virus.

I think that is some the most heroic stuff that I can possibly imagine, so I feel a deep sense of gratitude toward them. I also feel a sense of gratitude towards educators and teachers who are overnight having to become technologists. You know, they have to become Zoom call hosts. There they are learning how to do videos at home and do their own content, their own social media content of sorts to bring education out of the classroom back to the home so that people that, so kids that are in their classes can still continue learning and give some backup to the parents like myself, who are now educators and small business professionals and we're trying to somehow balance the many facets of life within the confines of our home. And I feel very thankful to have a home amidst all of this. So I want to just convey that with that context up front. Thanks for being with it. Before we get into the actual content, so the content for this video is this.

I know I hear folks occasionally going out now and declaring they have answers, answers about what's to come. I have no answers for you and I you know, I'd be a little late leery of those that do have answers for you, and what I mean by that is if you study crisis management and if you look at the different frameworks for how people navigate it, whether it's companies or people or organizations about non-profits, how do they respond to crisis. And I think that framework is relevant now. I think it's relevant to us as individuals and business owners and investors. Because here's the four steps of a framework that I have come to believe are going to continue helping me. They've been helping me for the past four weeks. Step # 1, listen and observe.

Step 2: measure, Step 3: assess, Step 4: respond.

Now, I'm taking some liberties there with some verbiage because I didn't like some of the very corporate-y on some of the frameworks that I would look at and study out there. But over the past couple of weeks in particular, I have really, really enjoyed getting some kind of reprieve and refocus and productivity by letting myself off the hook to have clear answers and definitive answers when we're not supposed to have them yet. And that's the point, guys. The pressure you are feeling in that lack of comfort you are feeling, it stems from a great many things, a lack of security, a lack of social connection, particularly for those of you extroverts out there that are cr