My friend Ed Corr forwarded this note from Stephen B. Polo, a partner at his firm:

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

“What looks large from a distance, up close ain’t ever that big.” — Bob Dylan

Our current economic crisis is causing companies distress and uncertainty. None of us know how long or how deep the difficulty is or will be. And even the experts have trouble explaining the ever changing problems or potential solutions.

A few weeks ago, I saw a photograph on the front page of The Washington Post. The photo was taken from the Hubble Telescope and it showed two galaxies in close proximity to one another. The caption said that it appeared that one of these galaxies had passed through the other!

Unbelievable. And nearly impossible to fully understand. As I looked at the photo, I realized that each of these galaxies contained billions of stars, and that each of the brightly colored lights in the background were also galaxies, each with billions of stars. It was more than I could get my mind around, so I did the only thing I could do: I turned to the sports section!

It seems like the complexity of the financial crisis is much like looking at these colliding galaxies – it’s too big and too complex to understand.

So what do we do? Should we do the equivalent of turning to the sports section and focus our attention on something else? Is there anything we can do?

Well, there are some things each of our companies can do. Here’s a starter list:

• Stay focused on your mission and values – We must continue to do the things our clients, customers, partners, advisors and employees expect from us. Continue to do the things we do well and focus on them.
• Continue to live your values – They are the real you and guide your actions: trust them.
• Help others – You’ll need help sometime down the road so be aware of how you can assist other people and companies.
• Stay positive – There will be more than enough “realism” or negativity to go around. We need the balance.
• Look for opportunities – Keep your company’s eyes peeled for the next place to help your customers and clients build value.
• Stop listening to complainers – They have their own reward.
• Take a hard look at the facts, but don’t give in, or up.

I don’t know how long this difficulty will last, or how deep it will be. What I do know is that we’re all in it together.

We need to stay focused on what we do best and how we can support each other.