Slowdown - What do "you" do?

I have been reading a lot of posts on the current slowdown and some advices / suggestions on how we cope with this.

A majority of Entrepreneurs / "wise guys" are of the opinion that this is as much an opportunity as a threat. An article in the Havard Business Review, lists six steps which can be followed in these times.

I personally view this as an opportunity and a challenge, which is not to de-emphasize the threat portion. But I believe that if you are offering a product / service that is of value to an end-user then you are going to have customers. People are definitely going to buy what is needed and what they perceive as value.

As organizations we need to recognize where this "value" lies. Trying to achieve this may also lead to disruptions of existing models / lines of business. Innovation is the key. Innovations can be at multiple levels - be it products, services, delivery, customer services, etc. Only those organizations that innovate consistently and rapidly will remain current and relevant.

To recognize the "value", it would be absolutely necessary to keep all your communication lines open. Talking to your customers is a very good step to discovering this.

Another HBR article goes on to say that the current environment that we are in is not a phase. This is a condition. And this is how it is going to be from now on. A product or a service will have a shelf life of a year-or so. It is quickly going to get cloned or get obsolete. So to remain current, you need to inculcate rapid innovation into the DNA of your organizations.

That is our best bet to ride thru 2009 and for a long time from thereon.