What To Do When You Can’t Save Everyone

In times of strategic tension, change, and stress; be sure to use the strengths you have to create the value you can.

This post was inspired by some commentary on a prior post regarding strategic cost reduction efforts.  In the course of thinking through the comments I received, I realized that there is a real gap in knowledge on some of the pitfalls that come with good, honest, and necessary restructuring activities.

If you read no further, read this:  In times of really hard choices about cost reduction, leaders, particularly mid-level leaders, can become so fatigued that they stop managing for value and start managing solely to the numbers.  It’s incumbent upon all of us as executives, advisors, and leaders to watch out for these attitudes of fatigued resignation.

The Insight: 

In the lives of nearly all business leaders comes a time when hard personnel choices have to be made.  Very few leaders escape it.  Even well known, visionary growth titans like Steve Jobs (who chopped Apple to a fraction of its workforce in the 1990s) have to experience these times.

But what happens when leaders having to make such choices to preserve value instead start making them out of a sense of resignation and duty?

They stop focusing on the value remaining, and start focusing on themselves…getting their job done.

And, then you start to hear a familiar refrain used by exhausted, resigned leaders facing tough choices.

“Well, we can’t save everyone…”

In the business environment, we often use such thinking to cope with making the hardest personnel decisions.

Constraints are real, and we all face them at some point.

However, you and I have to be careful not to let a truism about not being able to save everyone mean that we harden and decide not to save anyone.  Such a tragic false dichotomy has, in my experience, reared its head far too often in organizations making hard choices; and it results in the demoralization that people associate all too often with cost cuts.

Leaders harden.

They stop coaching.

They stop caring.

They “do what they are told.” And, often, nothing more.

They stop, in other words, leading.

I have witnessed, firsthand, fantastic people leaders turn into cold, distant souls following years of having to make challenging cuts.  The stress and pressure along with the cognitive dissonance of removing livelihoods to save corporate life build until each further action comes with that lament…

“You can’t save everyone.”

Yes.  But you can try to create a valuable solution that saves someone.

Think about how to redeploy, re-think, and, above all, sell!  Be willing to stand up and look for value.

An Applicable Parable:

One of my favorite apocryphal  parables touches on this topic. It is referred to as The Boy and the Starfish.

It goes like this:

While walking along a beach, an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water.

He came closer still and called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”

The old man smiled, and said, “I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”

To this, the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”

Upon hearing this, the elderly observer commented, “But, young man, do you not realise that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”

The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it into the back into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, “It made a difference for that one.”

The boy in the story took a bit of energy to save a few starfish from certain death.

Others thought he was doing fruitless work.

He knew he was making a difference.

So What?

Times of crisis or stress or pressure are the times we must think about how to create value the most, even in our own small corner of the world.

Other leaders may look at you and say “why bother? You can’t save everyone…”

When you face them, know that you can’t save everyone; but don’t use that as an excuse to keep from saving anyone.

I’d enjoy your thoughts and comments.

3 replies
  1. vaibhav khurana
    vaibhav khurana says:

    Dear Geoff

    Great story.

    Recently i had dealt with a similar situation at work where i had to ask a colleague to leave. Considering that this was the very first time i had to ask someone to look for some other work place, i gave it a lot of thought. I didnt want to sound very arrogant and knew no matter whatever i do or however i put it across, this was not going to be an easy talk.
    Finally after a day of thinking about the pros and cons, i came across a very interesting thought. As a manager, i had a duty towards the organisation but at the same time, i also had a duty towards the colleague. Although it was sad that we had to let him go, but it realising that it was best not only for the organisation but also for him was a relief. Instead of simply delivering the news about lay off to him, i sat down with him and we did a SWOT analysis for my colleague.
    This way, even though we were letting him go, i knew that doing the SWOT analysis made a huge difference to his life and he came to know the kind of job role he would search for in future.
    This whole experience taught me a lesson. Treat your employees with full respect even while laying off. It would make a lot of difference.

    Regards
    Vaibhav

    Reply
  2. Geoff Wilson
    Geoff Wilson says:

    Vaibhav: That’s a great comment. You get at the need to recognize individual dignity. I think that’s a very observant take on what I raise in the post, which is a cold sense of duty that can crop up during hard times. While I would have said the article is about professional self respect, which too many people lose in hard times; you make the case that it’s also about respect for others. People can certainly lose that as well when stressed. Thanks for the comment.

    Reply
  3. Liesa
    Liesa says:

    Vaibhav: That is a great comment..Thank you! Every employer should have that compassion and another corporation they affiliate with as a backup. This could sometimes work depending on what’s happening with that business. If they’re okay, perhaps they could take your former employee in. Then everyone is happy. I know this can’t happen every time someone is let go. But, perhaps making a difference for that one employee will make the positive difference for so many others in the future. We don’t anticipate letting anyone go but we know someday we too must face the inevitable. We’re at the beginning stages. We pray that won’t happen for a while. Whether someone has been with you for a day or 25 yrs., I presume it’s never easy. Thank you again for the blog Mr. Wilson. And thank you again Vaibhav. Two people on this panel made a difference for us today, which will likely make a difference in so many lives very soon. GOD Bless You.

    Reply

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