Here's Why a Crisis May Actually Be the Best Thing That Can Happen to You There's something empowering about a lack of choices.
By Matt Higgins Edited by Frances Dodds
This story appears in the January 2023 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
I don't love crisis. Nobody does. But I've experienced a lot of it in my life, and have learned to greet it like an old friend. That's because of something I've discovered along the way: We are at our best when we're out of options.
At that point, we are forced to make it work. We must summon all of our strength and willpower, because the alternative is to lose much more than we already have.
I've experienced this a lot. I grew up in Queens, New York, in poverty, and dropped out of high school at age 16 so I could support my ailing mom. Ten years later, I became the youngest-ever press secretary for the New York City mayor's office — the first shred of real security I'd ever had. The day I started that job, my mom died. A few months after that, 9/11 happened. A few years after that, I landed an executive gig with the New York Jets, and then got testicular cancer. I founded my own investment firm, only to hit rock bottom during my divorce.
Related: Shift Your Mindset and Actions to Embrace Change
But as I look back now, I see all those experiences as strengthening. I'm now the cofounder and CEO of RSE Ventures, and was a guest shark on Shark Tank. And it's why I give this same advice to any founder facing a crisis: It is much, much harder to make big moves when things are humming along and there's no immediate impetus to change. We can all do bold things, all the time. But usually we don't, because the world of options feels too large.
That's why now — in your own moment of crisis! — is the time to think big.
I'm reminded of fascinating research by Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino, who studied people working in a call center in India. She looked at two distinct groups — one had other options for where to work, and the other had no other job prospects. You might think the first group would have more confidence and outperform everyone else; after all, they're more in demand! Instead, the employees with no backup plan performed at a higher level. Why? Gino has an interesting theory: "With options comes potential regret," she says. "If you have five choices and can only pick one, you spend lots of time asking yourself, 'Was that the right choice?' But if you had no other options, you're more likely to be grateful for what you have."
Bad things will happen — to our businesses, in our lives, and in the world. It is all too easy to be derailed, and lose track of our goals. But crises can also provide opportunities for clarity. Embrace the moments when you have no choice.
To do that, I ask myself these three questions:
1. What's the worst that can happen?
2. What would I do if I were starting from scratch today?
3. How can I extract value from this otherwise bad situation?
Here's what I often find, as I ask those questions: The worst-case scenario is unlikely, but it is also survivable. Starting from scratch liberates you from the mistakes of the past. And no matter the crisis, you can extract value. Most importantly, when you start to think this way, you start thinking this way even in good times. Then you don't need a crisis to start thinking big. Because after all, nobody likes a crisis — even if it's a useful one.
