A functioning business protects itself from the very changes it needs.

principle — attributed to Ben Erwin

Erwin became CEO in August 2020 with the company effectively dark, monthly revenue down from a two and a half billion dollar run rate to single millions. He calls the timing an advantage rather than a setback: leading a healthy business at a healthy moment breeds paralysis, because every instinct says don't touch what is working. Catastrophe removed that fear entirely, since there was nothing left to protect. The principle extends past his own situation: an organization waiting for calm before it remakes itself will wait indefinitely, because the calm itself is what prevents the change from happening.

For leaders inheriting a stable organization who wonder why bold moves keep getting deferred.

crisis, change-management, timing, paralysis