Opportunities to re-invent?

Originally published on LinkedIn.

We are living in surreal, unprecedented times. Many have warned - such as in the black swan book - of a pandemic riding on the back of our globalised society but now we are in one it feels pretty scary. At times like these many of us worry and get anxious – it’s the flight or fight response - how we and our ancestors are emotionally wired to survive. Of course there is now little doubt this will have massive impacts on our lives – not just on families but on livelihoods, businesses and communities. I like many with vulnerable relatives worry for my father who is undergoing treatment for a serious health condition.

However if my reading into anthropology has taught me anything – it’s that we are a species of collaborative problem solvers. We will find a way to move forward, yes it will be hard – big change always tends to feel that way – until we look back and say huh life before the internet – how did that work? But the internet of course took a decade to fully embed itself in society – and the long tail of its impacts are still being felt. Right now many knowledge workers like myself are leveraging its power to work remotely at greater scale than ever before.

My hope is that we use these times as an opportunity to reshape the world for the better. Many businesses will need to think about how they are relevant, engage and sell to a remote customer base in the short term. How much of these approaches can be transferred after this has calmed down – to offer new operating models or sustained sales channels or partnerships? How much will these experiences change us for the better?

How can we improve business continuity planning (BCP) and resilience of our organisations and society? Where is this forcing us to look at those non-functional requirements that we were always told there wasn’t budget for (like sizing the remote working technology large enough for 100% of a workforce).

How can we make reduced travel and commuting (with its benefits to climate change and pollution) part of standard way of operating. Without disrupting the economy? Can the circular economy help with our supply change challenges and make society less reliant on global supply chains and stop us shipping plastics from Europe to Asia?

Shocks to the system like this may be a catalyst for disruptive technologies that have to date been moving more slowly than they could in more stressed conditions. Gartner describes this as “winning in the turns”. Rather than just trying to go faster on the straights when things are easy – the turns are the more challenging times where you re-position yourself to maximise success on the next straight. Look at Amazon’s distribution centres with their massive investment in robotics reducing the need for a human workforce. Will investments in automation and drone deliveries be more attractive now as they are more hygienic, scalable and reliable? Self-driving deliveries start to make sense when there aren’t enough people available to drive as they have been quarantined etc? Robotic surgeons provide the capability to undertake procedures 24/7 freeing up doctors to do bedside patient care.

But on the individual side of this – how do we ensure everyone has enough money to not just survive but thrive. I have seen several articles already starting to revisit the concept of universal basic income and talk of reversing national insurance contributions, so these become payments when people are out of work.

This situation will cause heartache and I do not mean to make light of what are indeed dark and scary times; but my hope is that we will find new ways to deliver value and function as a society. Lets hope we will rise from this phoenix like, stronger, more resilient and better equipped to face the next big scary challenges.

As hard as it might be – try and stay positive and glass half full. Let’s look for the opportunities to help each other to become a kinder, more adaptable society.

Originally published on LinkedIn.