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The economic/financial/systemic/employment/institutional crisis is the biggest opportunity of your lifetime.

No, I didn’t start drinking early in the morning.

For too long, we’ve been hoping. Some were hoping for Obama to fix it. Some were hoping for the Tea Party to turn the ship. Some were hoping from institutions to change everything.

Stop hoping.

Start defining reality.

Apple’s iPod and Hyundai

One product launched a month after 9/11.

A car brand that surged during the worst crisis of our lifetime.

They didn’t sit in the boardroom, full of fear, sticking to the same old. They released new products, marketed them aggressively.

Don’t believe me. Ask Mark Cuban.

“Recessions are the great equalizer. Everyone is a genius in a Bull Market.”

Don’t forget: Everybody is dealing with massive challenges right now. Nobody is immune to the current market forces. Your competition is trying to survive, barely keeping their head above the water. It’s the end of the year, time to cut budgets for the rest of the year and expect the worst for 2012.

Right?

Wrong!

This is the perfect time to take risks, to create ‘underground projects’, bring entrepreneurial-style ideas to life. You can’t beat your competition or succeed after the recession is over (which might be in 5-10 years. Just saying…) by cutting budgets and hide until customers are willing to spend again. When it’s 2020 and we have 3% unemployment, you won’t have that luxury. When the economy is working, big bucks still rule the roost. When the economy is sputtering, big ideas make the difference.

Don’t go nuts. Just be creative.

This doesn’t mean wasting money or re-allocating too many resources to these venture-style projects. Make sure to cover your bases, keep the company afloat. And allocate 10% of your resources/talent/investment to innovative projects. Bootstrap. Prototype. Execute. Learn.

Rinse and repeat.

Use the fear that surrounds us as your motivation to build something amazing. Let the others be transfixed by fear while you define your own future.

Why would you pass on the opportunity of a lifetime?