Crisis Is the Mother of Innovation

Recently I shared a few reflections from the Greater Giving Summit.

While I was there, a theme emerged that I’ve thought about for years: how crisis can become the fuel for transformation.

We all have priorities, things that are important that we want to do, need to do. We can also get caught in trying the same things over and over, to less and less result. But crisis is a motivator like no other, and it brings with it a sense of urgency combined with an imperative for change.

Put another way:

If necessity is the mother of invention, then crisis is the mother of innovation.

I want to sit with that one a little longer this week.

Change and the role of crisis

Several years ago, I had a breakthrough in the most unexpected of places – in a quiet moment on a veranda in Colorado Springs.

I was attending a series of board meetings and was enjoying breakfast with my friend Jon Lee. Jon has been a strategic and creative force behind some of the biggest brands on both the nonprofit and for-profit spectrum – creating Super Bowl ads, world-class creative campaigns, and transformational brands for organizations like Fruit of the Loom, He Gets Us, Interstate Batteries, Lifeway, The Chosen, and The Salvation Army, among many others.

Jon and I were talking about how hard it is for organizations to adopt new models, new ways of doing things to better accomplish their mission. It was the early years of our work in sustainable recurring giving at The Center, and I was lamenting the lack of speed that organizations were showing to take advantage of the opportunity to grow sustainable funding – clearly one of the most valuable things they could do for their mission and their long-term stability.

Jon listened for a while, and then he said something that has stuck with me.

“Well, sometimes they just need a crisitunity.”

Crisitunity.

What?

I stopped eating. What do you mean crisitunity?

A crisis that represents an opportunity. We then went on to talk about several organizations that, in moments of crisis, finally had the gumption to change.

I was floored. I could immediately think of multiple times in my career when we worked with organizations through crisis. Those were some of the hardest times, but they were also some of the most rewarding times, and the ones I found myself pointing to throughout my career as moments of explosive innovation and progress.

“Can I use that?” My imagination was spinning.

“Sure,” he replied. “It’s from The Simpsons.”

What?? 🤣

Turns out, the idea comes from an episode of The Simpsons. In a moment of crisis, Lisa says to Homer, "Did you know the Chinese use the same word for 'crisis' as they do for 'opportunity'?"

And Homer, ever the philosopher, lights up: "Yes! A crisitunity!"

Above: Resident philosopher Homer Simpson realizing that crisis and opportunity are two sides of the same coin. In other words, a CRISITUNITY!

I had to laugh. But as with most things that have the slight sting of a tough truth, I knew Homer was right.

Btw, if you are interested, we hosted Jon Lee on a podcast I co-founded years ago, called the Purpose & Profit Podcast. You can listen to our conversation with Jon on S2E2: The Super Bowl, He Gets Us, and Challenger Brands.

The myth that holds us back from innovating

Here's a belief I bought into for years as a leader: innovation happens when times are good.

I used to think, "If we could just dial things in and get everything running smoothly, then we'll have the time to focus on innovation. Once all these fires are out, then we'll really be cooking."

The reality is that there is never an ideal time to invest in innovation. There will always be perfectly legitimate reasons to put off questioning the status quo and building the next thing.

The truth is closer to the opposite. Crisis is the crucible that catalyzes innovation.

When I look back on the most significant breakthroughs of my career, the projects I'm proudest of, it's remarkable how many of them were born in a moment of crisis. We didn't have enough time. We didn't have enough resources. We faced challenges we hadn't seen before. We were down in some way, and we had to rise to the occasion.

Success was far from guaranteed. And yet we persevered. We pushed through, came together, and worked our tails off. Months or years later, we look back on those seasons with a real sense of pride and accomplishment – gratitude, even. If we hadn't gone through that crisis, we wouldn't be who we are today, and our organizations wouldn't be where they are today.

Funny how, looking back, we tend to forget the adversity. The long stretches of doubt. The struggle. And then we're surprised the next time it's hard.

I want to encourage you. The hard parts are a feature, not a bug. The adversity is part of the journey, and crisis can catalyze the biggest leaps of all. 

Full circle – What’s your Crisitunity?

The pandemic was an all-out crisis for most of us. Think about your own journey in those years. Were you forced to develop new ways of doing things? Was your status quo rocked?

Here's where it comes back around to what Jon and I were talking about, with regard to sustainable funding for more charities – the pandemic didn't just disrupt operations. It exposed how fragile lumpy, one-time-gift-dependent revenue really is. The organizations that leaned into that crisitunity, that chose to not only believe in recurring giving, but do the hard work of building durable revenue instead of waiting for calmer waters, came out the other side steadier and stronger. The crisis became the catalyst for the very shift they'd been putting off for years.

That's the thing about a crisitunity. The disruption you're tempted to wait out might be exactly the conditions you need to finally build the thing you've been meaning to build.

So, what's your crisitunity? What disruption is staring your organization in the face right now? What have you been telling yourself you'll get to "once things settle down"?

Don't waste it.

💡 Takeaway: Crisis is the crucible of innovation. When a real challenge hits, don't hunker down and wait it out. Lean in, rally your team, question the status quo, and build the thing you've been putting off. If necessity is the mother of invention, then crisis is the mother of innovation. Never waste a good crisitunity.

If you’ve read this and thought, “Building sustainable, recurring giving is our crisitunity right now,” I’d love to explore whether we can help you. You can read more about our process here, and reach out to explore here. 

Until next week… Surf's Up! 🌊

 - Dave