Will the economic and societal fallout be more painful than the coronavirus?
Thomas Frey //May 27, 2020//
Will the economic and societal fallout be more painful than the coronavirus?
Thomas Frey //May 27, 2020//
A couple days ago I was contacted by Anastasia Levchenko. Chief Correspondent for the Sputnik News Agency based in Italy. She asked if I could answer a series of interview questions about the changing state of the world because of the coronavirus.
Never before in history have we seen the dashboard of life have so many knobs twisted, levers pulled, buttons pressed and dials tweaked and we had in the first few months of 2020.Throughout everything, technology will progress, our challenges will still be there, and every problem will still have an opportunity to solve it.
How will coronavirus change leadership?
Every year 9.6 million people die from cancer, 730,000 from Malaria, 887,000 from Hepatitis B and 1.1 million from Tuberculosis, but these statistics aren’t making headlines nearly as much as COVID-19. The reason I’m bringing this up is because good leadership is about perspective and priorities.
In the world’s current state of fear and panic, it’s inconceivable to think that leaders won’t be severely criticized for bad decisions after things die down. And, it’s uncertain whether it’s possible to make good decisions right now.
However, a great crisis is where great leaders are born. And in learning from this situation, future leadership will be far more data driven, with far more data points, to determine both perspectives and priorities.
The recent wave of layoffs and unpaid vacations will force companies and factories to be more efficient when it is all over. Many business operations are seeing much more efficient operations during the crisis and now realize they can get by with far fewer employees, and as a result will cut back in the future. At the same time, many are using this time to launch new products, businesses and services.
This is such a unique period in history because the normal s-curve adoption rates in many areas of tech have been replaced with a straight vertical line. Anyone who can possibly work from home has been forced to learn all the tools and apps necessary to become functional working at home. Plus, while at home, people are having to get used to new on-demand delivery services, for food and for supplies.
Stores, supermarkets and restaurants are quickly replacing traditional retailers with non-customer facing distribution center. Plus, they’re adopting new technologies to make curbside and delivery possible.
The work-from-home culture requires a unique set of tools ranging from better WiFi, VPNs, state-of-the-art hardware, message tools and video conferencing tools. Ironically, most traditional colleges are not teaching the necessary skills for online tools and apps.
However, there is much more involved in having people work-from-home than tools, apps, and hardware. Workers need to be self-motivated with good time-management skills and must feel comfortable in the isolation of their own homes. As a result. managers need to manage differently.
In general, in the future we should see a sharp increase in work-from-home operations, a sharp increase in demand for coworking spaces that fulfill our need for social contact in a collaborative workspace environments and an increased use of technology in workplaces.
For people all over the planet, the COVID-19 crisis has drastically impacted their lives and futures. Some are watching every newscast for the next update; others are re-engineering their career path to take advantage of emerging opportunities; and many are living in a state of fear, not knowing where their next meal will come from or who will take care of their children.
Every newscast is building on the fear and panic, driving many into a state of depression, anger, and hopelessness. Savvy politicians are trying to reposition their agenda to take advantage of it. No one is being left unscathed.
This is a pandemic that will never end. It will leave deep scars on both the social and business fabric of society. For many industries, like those working in travel and vacation businesses, recovery will take years, maybe decades.
While there are many possible scenarios for how the future will unfold, here are a few trend lines that I expect to see:
Despite all our progress and technological advancements, we are still very vulnerable. This time it was a pandemic, but next time it may be a massive solar flare, a giant EMP blast, asteroid hitting the earth, or something else. The flaws of our aging systems, standards, processes, and businesses have been identified and we will be forever changed by this.
If technology progresses the way I have predicted, we are on the verge of an explosive transformation. Buckle your seatbelts, it’s going to be a rough ride.