In June, unemployment hit 9.5%, the highest rate in 25 years, and a "sobering indication that the longest recession since the 1930s has yet to release its hold", wrote the NY Times.
Not that any of us needed this statistic to know that times are tough.
Many of us have seen our net worth dwindle, and are tightening our belts to an extent we haven't had to in years, if ever.
Yet I find myself curiously optimistic.
When the Wall Street Journal asked Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen how the recession would affect innovation, his responding that it would have an "unmitigated positive effect on innovation" was seemingly counter-intuitive.
He continued, "When the tension is greatest and the resources are most limited, people are actually a lot more open to rethinking the fundamental way they do business. That's when breakthrough innovations occur."
Source: istockphoto
A recent CNN Money article tells of a woman whose husband was out-of-work. As she and her husband fundamentally rethought how to do business, they've made ends meet -- and then some. This same article cites a study by the Kauffman Foundation indicating that 51% of the Fortune 500 companies began during a recession or bear market or both.
Maybe Christensen's ideas aren't so counter-intuitive.
We recently heard CK Woolley's story. Without the need to rethink how she does business and lives her life, would there have been a Shabby Apple?
As an analyst on Wall Street, would I have amassed a set of portable skills if the resources I'd needed had been readily available?
Would our 'dare to dream' community have had the marvelous month of guest blogs, if I hadn't been resource-constrained?
Source: istockphoto
Most women, particularly mothers, continually feel the tension of having too little time and too small of a budget. Because of this tension, we are expert at rethinking how things get done.
And with the 'recession to have yet released its hold', is the time not ripe for our expertise?
I'm dreaming of disruption.
In my own life and in yours.
And that's a good thing.
What are some other breakthrough innovations? Under what circumstances did they occur?
Have the current economic difficulties opened doors to your dreams sooner than you had anticipated?
Thanks to Dana King for passing along the CNN article.
I've had to completely re-invent the way I write due to our home circumstances. I'm much more flexible now, and can turn the muse on and off in a way that seemed impossible to me before. We can break through barriers--especially those that are self-imposed--if our dream is compelling enough.
Posted by: Luisa Perkins | July 06, 2009 at 08:01 AM
Great way of looking at the situation Whitney. I have looked at things differently and mostly in a good way since last fall. There may be a big change in how our family operates. I'll keep you posted.
Posted by: Julia | July 06, 2009 at 08:45 AM
Lack so often leads to scarcity thinking. I can't, I don't, I haven't. And yet, it can lead us to the absolute opposite - creativity and total paradigm shifts. I am working on the latter!
I loved the guest blogging series last month. So much wisdom and insight.
Posted by: Chrysula Winegar | July 06, 2009 at 10:34 AM
My husband and I were discussing this the other day and he said to me, "I still believe in the American Dream." We have had to make hard choices in our short nearly eight years together. Some of the choices have been outright risky, others just tough decisions such as going without some of the luxuries in life (Satellite or cable TV, eating out, etc.). We have learned that as long as we do everything prayerfully we have always been led to make the right decisions. And as long as we're careful we always find a way to get by and pay off our debt.
It is for this reason, to innovate, that we are again starting a new phase in our lives. We don't like to be limited in our growth potential, and although he has a very successful career in the medical field it's time for us to take it in a new direction. We believe, as I think most Dreamers do, that you must take your chances in life when they present themselves.
It is my hope that in this economic climate we can pull together as a country and show why the American Dream is still alive and doing well.
Posted by: Aimee | July 06, 2009 at 10:48 AM
For me relearning delayed gratification has been a relief. More time at the library rather than shopping, reassessing needs, wants, and dreams has all been healthy for myself and for my family. It feels like fine tuning life; focusing on what matters most & making sure my energy is in line with what I value most & what I want to accomplish most in life.
Great post, Whitney. I'm going to link it on FB.
Posted by: Rebecca | July 06, 2009 at 12:12 PM
You know I'm a fan of innovative disruption :) and i think that looking for solutions outside of the box are really the only ways to find solutions that will fix things. throwing more money or more of the same at something is not going to bring the change we are looking for.
I think my "disruption" was picking up and moving as we've already discussed. Not everyone has that luxury. I'm still looking for ways to market myself and my skills but still allow me the freedom to "work" where I want and accomplish what I want.
Posted by: Emily | July 06, 2009 at 12:39 PM
Love the site! I'm so glad you found me via Twitter so I could find your site. You might also enjoy checking out my other site, Hope Springs Internal (www. hopespringsinternal. com -- sorry to write it out that way but I didn't know if will stop the post if there's a link in this comment). I'm adding your site to my RSS feeder. :)
Posted by: Positively Present | July 07, 2009 at 09:35 PM
What a wonderful perspective! I'm going to be noticing the gifts in disruptions.
Posted by: Maria | July 07, 2009 at 10:40 PM
I love this post, Whitney. I have spent a lot of time thinking about "disruption" as we have designed our business and our software product. I think I have not spent nearly enough time thinking about actively plotting disruption in my personal and "dare to dream" lives. (Plenty of disruption forces itself upon us, but that may be different!)
Sort of exciting to think about...
Posted by: Diane Sampson | July 09, 2009 at 07:47 AM
Interestingly, 1816 has been dubbed the "Year without Summer" for the unusally cold summer that year. The write-up in wikipedia lists some very interesting results of the year--people making important innovations as a response to such severe weather.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_Summer
Posted by: Margaret Woolley Busse | July 13, 2009 at 08:38 PM