Disruption is upon you. This is the way out.

A thick fog of disruption has rolled into your life. Maybe your entire industry just went into freefall. Or your business is struggling mightily. Perhaps your career path has been upended.

Whatever your situation, the world as you know it has changed. You may feel despair, fear, even anger. You have no idea what to do next. Is there a way through this?

YES.

That’s the answer executive and entrepreneur David Giersdorf presents in Hard Ships, which details his four decades of experience navigating brutal disruptions in the cruise ship industry and achieving innovation and growth. David knows disruption-and how to find a way through it. In addition to navigating his fair share of personal disruptions, he’s helped major companies, small businesses, and individuals withstand catastrophe, including the Gulf Wars, Y2K, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the Great Recession, the H1N1 pandemic, and notable industry disasters. Then when COVID-19 swept the earth, and the $45 billion annual revenue cruise industry lost $65 billion in market value, David’s experience and advice guided companies toward recovery.

Drawing on counsel David has given countless clients, companies, and career professionals, Hard Ships helps people facing disruption, particularly those struggling in the aftermath of COVID-19. What works to stabilize the cruise industry works anywhere for anyone, from publicly traded companies to self-employed freelancers. Cruising is the most operationally complex and difficult industry on earth, with self-contained smartcities that operate 24/7 on the world’s oceans and rivers. What happens anywhere can impact the entire industry. A ripple anywhere can become a tsunami everywhere. Hard Ships repurposes David Giersdorf’s hard-learned strategies for any situation, from pandemics and market panics to everyday personal change.

A clear, practical, and immediately applicable guide, Hard Ships offers step-by-step guidance with diverse, real-life examples to navigate dark storms, make sense in the fog, and steer back into clear waters.