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When You’re Going Through Hell, Keep On Going
- m0nty 18y ago"I don’t think the downturn in our general field will be as drastic as it was back in the day." Whatever area they work in, people always seem to say this. I used to work for a "Big 4" accountancy firm, back in '91, and the official message from management was "we do OK in a recession. People go bust and we get more receivership business." Then they laid off 200 people, then 200 more the next week. Now I hear the same thing from people I work with. One of our tech support guys reckons he'll be OK because "people still need techies to fix their printers." Well, assuming people do still need to have their printers fixed, which they won't if they just got laid off, or if they decide to do it themselves instead. Even if you have a strong business, a recession could change the whole game. Or maybe you get lucky and your competitors go under and you pick up more business in the medium term. But nothing's certain.
- davidw 18y agoUnless, of course, changing direction would get you headed out of hell, rather than in deeper.
- sutro 18y agoReminds me of a recent HN conversation about Mitt Romney being the best guy to "turn around a sinking ship." So when you're going through hell in a sinking ship: 1) Keep on going. 2) Turn around. 3) Rearrange the deck chairs. 4) Ask Mitt Romney for help.
- ckinnan 18y agoWorked for the Olympics and Massachusetts.
- ojbyrne 18y agoI've always said that for each and every proverb, there's an equal and opposite proverb.
- thomasmallen 18y agoEvery proverb is unequivocally unique.