
When You’re Going Through Hell, Keep On Going - terpua
http://gigaom.com/2008/11/22/when-youre-going-through-hell-keep-on-going/
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m0nty
"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
Unless, of course, changing direction would get you headed out of hell, rather
than in deeper.

~~~
sutro
Reminds 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
Worked for the Olympics and Massachusetts.

