PREPARING TO SURVIVE THE NEXT BUSINESS CRISIS

Congratulations! The good news is that your business has survived the Pandemic Crisis.
The bad news is that there will be another crisis, probably sooner than you might expect.
The corvid-19 Pandemic is called a “Black Swan Event.” Black Swan Events are supposed to
be rare events, typically occurring occur every hundred years or so. However, let’s get real.
During the past 30 years there have been several so-called “Black Swan Events” occurring just
about every ten years1. Just look at the past 20 years, there have been several so-called Black
Swan events:
• 2020: The Covid-91 Pandemic
• 2008-9 The Great Recession
• 2001 The attack on the World Trade Center
• 1999-2000 The “Dot. Com” Bust
Organizations have different degrees of risk associated with the stresses of so-called Black Swan
events. We have developed a research-based validated method of measuring that degree of risk.
Organizational Health and Sustainability Assessment
Measuring Organizational Distress. Our firm, Management Systems, has been conducting
a long-term research study of Organizational Health and Sustainability and identified the key
factors that lead to either a business success or collapse. Based upon this research, we have
identified the key “warning signs” of impending problems, and created a research- validated
proprietary questionnaire/tool for assessing the degree of risk facing a company. This is called
the “Symptoms of Organizational Distress Questionnaire.” It measures the degree of severity
and related risk to a business from the following ten symptoms of “organizational distress:”
• People feel that “there are not enough hours in the day.”
• People spend too much time “putting out fires.”
• People are not aware of what other people are doing.
• People lack understanding about where the firm is headed.
• There are too few good managers.
• People feel that “I have to do it myself if I want to get it done correctly.”
• Most people feel that meetings are a waste of time.
• When plans are made, there is very little follow-up, so things just don’t get done.
• Some people feel insecure about their place in the firm.
• The firm continues to grow in sales but not in profits.
Levels of Risk of Scores of “Symptoms of Organizational Distress.” We have also
developed a method to assess the degree of risk that different levels of scores on the Symptoms

1
I am indebted to Lloyd Talbert, CEO, of C. R. Lawrence, for this observation.
of Organizational Distress Questionnaire indicate. Specifically, we have identified of five
different levels or degrees of risk scores, as shown below:
Risk Level Interpretation of Risk
Score
• Level 1: Score Range 10-14 Level of Risk = Very Low = Everything OK
• Level 2: Score Range 15-19 Level of Risk = Low = Some things to
Watch
• Level 3: Score Range 20-29 Level of Risk = Moderate = Some areas need
immediate attention
• Level 4: Score Range 30-39 Level of Risk = High = Very significant
problems
• Level 5: Score Range 40-50 Level of Risk = Very High = Organization in
crisis
What Should You Do to Prepare to Survive the Next Business Crises?
For those who would like to take action to prepare to survive the next business crises, we
recommend the following action steps:
Step 1: Do an assessment of your organization’s health and sustainability by
completing our proprietary research-validated “Symptoms of Organizational
Distress Questionnaire” via on-line link. As our contribution to your containing
successful preparation for surviving the current and future business crises, we are
offering to let you complete this questionnaire at no cost:
a. Contact us and we will provide you with an online link, process the
questionnaire, prepare an Executive Summary Report on your “Distress
score” and your related level of risk as indicated by that score--all on a
complementary basis.
b. You should then complete steps 2-4 below:
2) Based on your score and the related level of risk, you should develop a plan for
reducing your organization’s level of risk.
a. Ideally your score should be in the “yellow” or “green” zones.
b. Set specific-measurable goals for reducing your “Distress score.”
3) Initiate action steps based on your plan.
4) After a defined period, (six months to one year), re-administer the “Symptoms of
Organizational Distress Questionnaire” to assess your progress in reducing your
“Distress score” and decreasing your related level of risk.2
For information about our firm’s program to assess and reduce your “Symptoms of
Organizational Distress” score, contact Laurie Flamholtz, Communications Director,
Management Systems at LF@mgtsystems.com.

2
Please note that there will be a fee for the re-administration of these questionnaires, but not for the initial
administration.