Conclusions from the crisis - how to proceed?

This year has been strange - many people have been rudely pushed off the beaten track and have had many, partly new, experiences in the last weeks. After having written last month about what the crisis is doing to us and which competence is useful right now, I now ask another question: What conclusions can we draw about how to proceed?

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Like many others, I have attended many webinars in the last few weeks and have listened very consciously to how different communities see the near future. What is the quintessence?

The crisis triggered by Covid19 gave direct and sometimes brutal feedback, holding a mirror in front of your nose, so to speak:

• For companies - how quickly and flexibly could we change over? How susceptible are we to rapid changes in the environment? What options do we have for the future?
• For teams - how stable and reliable are we? How well were we able to collaborate remotely? How good is our network?
• For individuals - how resilient am I myself? How do I deal with stress and change? How does my behaviour change?

In the discussion, many confirmed that, firstly, even in an organisation (company, team, but also family) there are different forms and speeds of adaptation. Secondly, all those who had already invested in options and bandwidths well before Corona and were therefore able to act more flexibly had a much better chance of getting through - this also applies to the individual area. The critical question was not so much how quickly I could handle Zoom or Webex, but how well, quickly and stably my self-control worked. And this also required time investment in itself even before the crisis.

I generally consider this pro-active element to be an essential key to success (for more details, see the article on Response-ability) - in modification of a historical Austrian advertising slogan: you have to make sure you have it when you need it.

While there was a relatively broad consensus in the webinars on the question of the current situation, the conclusions drawn from it were different. What is the next step?

First of all - I don't think anyone can really seriously predict what the near future will look like (not to mention the more distant future, see also book tip below) - even if many people are doing so at the moment.

Which hypotheses are there at the moment?

• It will be the same as before
• Nothing will be the same as before
• Digitisation has now proved its worth, it will now become much more digital
• We have to save Costs now (implicitly added: especially where it is quick and easy, e.g. staff or things like trainings, travelling, ...)
• We have to invest now because we don't want to repeat the experience (besides, we want to overtake those who save now)
• We must work together differently and create structures that last
• …

Probably there was something here that comes close to your her view of things. I also consider it absolutely unproblematic that we draw different conclusions individually.

More important is that we ask ourselves the right questions. In my opinion, these are less of the kind "what will the future be like", but rather something like:

• What is really important - for me as a person or as an organization
• What do I actually want to do
• With whom and how would I like to work
• What is the best place to invest - in tools, machines, recreation, relationships,...or skills
• …

There is no doubt that 2020 will be remembered as a challenging year, and perhaps one that has actually brought about a change in thinking.

The chance is to really learn from the last few weeks, to make good use of the mirror we have received. Personally, I believe that it is time to invest (especially time) and create structures, competences, relationships and networks that are crisis-proof. There will be less actual Actions and changes than currently announced - so there is an additional potential in it!

Without doubt there are financial troubles and the next weeks will remain challenging for organisations and individuals, but: the other narrow good is the time that we have available. And it is our task to use it well and pro-actively!