When is a crisis not a crisis? An interesting question to ponder when the daily diet of news is a whole series of connected issues. We are referring to it as the cost of living crisis but it isn’t being approached in the same way as other crises.
For ‘normal’ crisis situations there is an identified issue at the centre which often will have been caused by some external event or reputational challenge. It emerges at a defined point in time and an organisation will have to lead the response. This may be because the organisation has created the problem and needs to deal with it or has to respond to a situation that has occurred. So what is different now?
This cost of living crisis has been developing throughout 2022. Since the start of the year there have been continued increases in food, fuel and heating costs and the start of unrest and unions taking action. There is not one thing leading to this crisis but a number of factors that have come together to create the situation we are experiencing. It appears there is no-one taking the responsibility to act. With the Tory leadership contest underway we are going to have to wait some more weeks before we have any understanding of if there is action going to be taken.
But be clear that what we are experiencing is a crisis. It will, and already is, having a huge impact on people and without action the situation will just get worse. The predictions are spreading fear across the country with predictions of how bad things could become. At the moment people are starting to see problems on the horizon or are resigned to struggling to feed themselves and keep themselves warm in the weeks and months ahead.
My frustration is that I spend a lot of time teaching people that the most important thing is to first recognise that there is a crisis occurring and then second to ensure that there is action being taken to address it. Communication needs both these things for it to be able to make an impact. This inertia, lack of action and resignation to the possible future is not the way to approach a crisis response.
So is this really a crisis or is it just words that the media like to use? For me, it is absolutely a crisis, but it doesn’t conform to those preconceived ideas and with political inaction it is being allowed to grow and develop unchecked. In the absence of any action we need to find ways that we can build our own resilience, look at where savings can be made, how to adapt our lives and how we can help others. This could be a long winter we have ahead of us.
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