Highlighting Crises: The Burning Platform vs Chicken Little

Anyone who has ever studied business or management should be familiar with the concept of “The Burning Platform”.  It’s a management theory/technique based of the story of a man working on an oil platform who is suddenly awakened one night by an explosion.  He rises from his bed to find the platform engulfed in flames and amidst the chaos decides to jump from the platform to the ice-cold water 100 feet below.  Upon being rescued and questioned about the rationality of jumping, the man states, "I would rather face a probable death than a certain death".  The story is meant to illustrate a situation where a "choice" is really no choice at all; face certain death by burning or take your chances swimming in cold water.  It very clearly highlights a crisis and leaves the character only one choice. In management burning platforms are metaphors used much the same way. The surrounding issues (cultural, economic, strategic, etc)  are the burning oil platform and a corporation or project is the oil worker. Managers will generally highlight crucial issues, heighten the sense of urgency among their staff and then lay out a plan of action to move the company forward. This can be a very effective management method, especially for organizations undergoing considerable change. Focusing on a crisis and a plan of attack, the organization can take the necessary action to survive and ultimately excel.

There is another style of management that also focuses on managing crises. This style manifests when the burning platform style goes wrong. I call it the Chicken Little style of management.  This theory is based on of the story of Chicken Little who, while eating lunch one day, gets struck on the head by a falling acorn.  Immediately Chicken Little determines that the sky is falling and sets out to alert everyone. Of course, the sky is not actually falling and the moral here is not to believe every crisis you hear.  It’s important in business to maintain a rational outlook and always look at the bigger picture. While urgency can motivate your employees, panic will surely make them less productive.

All too often I see companies incapable of looking beyond the current crisis. At every meeting and in every email, employees and managers are screaming about the end of the world if XYZ problem is not resolved today and right now! The Chicken Little management theory relies on all out panic about each and every “crisis”.  Burning Platform thinking allows a company to coerce employees into action by replacing “learning anxiety” with “survival anxiety”[1]. It focuses time, energy and resources toward resolving crucial issues. The difference is rational, big picture thinking, clearly articulated plans and a willingness to act versus blind panic and no plan of action.

Next time you are in the midst of a crisis at work and you feel like the sky is falling make sure to take a step back and evaluate the big picture. And if you are a CEO or manager be sure to create urgency in a responsible way that focuses your staff and your team on the truly critical issues.

Good Talk,

Tom

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[1] (Note: I first read the terms learning anxiety and survival anxiety an interview of Edgar Schein of MIT’s Sloan School of Management. I do not know who originally coined them).