I have the feeling from what I have read recently in the media, and after talking to some of our members, that for many we are at a moment of waiting before taking decisions.  After a year of government led economic stimulus packages comes to an end, many commentators are wondering what will happen next with the economy.  This uncertainty may encourage a tendency to postpone decision making.  Worse, the continued stream of negative messages could become an accepted part of the "new normal" that is being so much talked about.

A year ago we all suffered a shock.  The economic engine that had been so reliably driving our growth was shown to have depended on a large bubble for much of its energy.  We all had to rapidly revise our expectations and question our priorities.  Some observers have compared the shock of this changed outlook to the grief that can be caused by a sudden death.  In the famous 'grief cycle' (first written about in 1969 by the Swiss doctor Elizabeth Kubler-Ross) we are supposed to move through various stages of coming to terms with our loss, beginning with 'denial' followed perhaps by 'anger'.  The cycle ends, according to psycho-analysts, with 'acceptance', before we can move on.

At the end of 2009 there is a consensus that an economic crisis is still to be lived through, at least in Europe and the US.  A so-called "new normal" is being proposed, under which market conditions are forever changed and in which we will still have to work out the new rules.  Given these changes and the need to come to 'acceptance' before moving on, it may be tempting to wait it out - not make decisions until the "new normal" becomes clear.

'Acceptance' may be a good final state for psycho-analysts, but it is far too passive for the business world.  In fact 'acceptance' is the opposite of the entrepreneurial spirit that is required to lift us out of economic crisis.

While the 'grief model' of understanding change is useful in reminding us that we need to come to terms with a changed outlook, I believe that entrepreneurs are capable of going through the various stages much faster.  Most importantly in entrepreneurialism there is no final stage called 'acceptance', just a pause before beginning a new cycle of search for solutions.

I am against simple discussions of a 'new normal', as if we ever knew what was 'normal' anyway.  If we have lost anything from the period of consistent economic growth, it may be the acceptance that there is any such thing as 'normal'.  And that may be a good thing, to stimulate creativity and generate opportunity.