Welcome to the first work week of 2009.  There are no more opportunities to hide behind a social calendar filled to the brim with diversions and distractions.  It’s time to face the worst economy of our lives head on with a steely resolve to overcome and succeed.

I don’t know too many people that are sad to see 2008 in the rear view mirror.  I also don’t know too many people that expect this new year to be a day at the beach.  Let’s face it, even if we don’t get clubbed over the head with more systemic shocks, it’s likely that we are still peering down into the abyss that is this economy.  We may bottom out this year…but it feels like the unwinding has a long way to go.

The good news is that the secret is out.  Things stink.  There’s no more wondering about a recession.  You can let the worry of things getting bad quit renting space in your mind. Frankly, none of us have time to preoccupy on the fear of bad news.  We’re in the storm and we need all of our faculties to focus on putting one foot in front of the other in order to keep moving.

I scan the popular business press for content for this blog, my MBA classes and my workshops.  I’m always looking for material that showcases organizations and individuals that have adapted their thinking and their approaches to find opportunities in spite of the prevailing headwinds.  There is very little of this content to be had.

Apparently, the world’s population would rather read endless stories of hardship, failure, layoffs, and other content that preys on our fears.  Quit reading and listening to this crap…it is wasting your time, draining your energy and keeping you from focusing on the challenges in front of you.  Instead, focus your attention on creating the positive story in your work environment.  Set a goal on creating successes by better understanding and serving internal and external customers.

Make your department, team, organization the model case study for future MBA students on how you rethought traditional approaches to value creation, management and operations and came out the other end a market leader.  Surviving and prospering in this environment is the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG).  While your competitors are retrenching and retreating,  we all want to read about you innovating and succeeding.  Your success….even your small victories will remind us that good things are possible in the worst of circumstances.

The Bottom-Line for Now:

A model worth referencing in these times is the conduct of the British people during the Blitz in World War II.  Armed with a fearless leader in Churchill and a resolve characterized by the phrase, “Keep a stiff upper lip,” the people went about the business of survival, rebuilding, helping and ultimately winning, all the while bombs were dropping randomly on their homes and businesses.

Well, the economic bombs are dropping and the damage is spreading.  Great.  Now keep a stiff upper lip and help clean up and rebuild.  Hiding isn’t going to accomplish anything.

Have a good first working week of the year and as you generate some small victories, remember to share your stories.  Maybe we can turn the tide in the popular press and focus on what’s working and what people are doing right.  Success is contagious.