2020: Endurance Test-Drive
2020 seemed to be a magic year!
We usually make plans for rounded years. Suddenly, a black swan called SARS-Cov-2 showed up to challenge everything and everyone. At first, optimists said that three months of lockdown would be enough powerful to control the pandemic spread and life would turn back to normal. We all made contingency plans for the 2nd quarter of 2020.
Nevertheless, as I am writing this short article by the end of August, pandemic is still around the corner, killing thousands every day and imposing restrictions of all sorts to people and companies.
It is true that, compared to Middle Age pandemics, we should not complain at all. SARS-Cov-2 arose in the contemporary age of full digital connectivity. In general, people are staying at their home with some level of connection with the rest of the world, including the possibility to buy online almost everything they want. None of us can possibly imagine what life could be without any digital connection, locked in silence in our houses with no electric power.
2020 has been a thrill! World economies are upside down. Ingrained beliefs are being fiercely challenged by facts and data. It is possible to deny the power of nature to shape humankind in this planet. Humans are moving fast with Science and Technology, but can still barely face natural forces, from hurricanes to virus.
2020 has been an endurance test drive for all of us. From companies to families. From churches to governments. From elders to children. And it is not only abou nickels and dimes. It is also about being mental healthy without live social interactions, facing fears of losing jobs and income. SARS-Cov-2 already left victims in thousands of families all over the world. Moreover, thousands of companies will not survive at all to months of lockdown.
Digital inclusion and access to capital are a strong combination for fighting against this pop pandemic. But both are not easily available. Poor side of towns are suffering much more with deaths and unemployment. Small companies are going bankrupt much more than large enterprises. Small countries have fewer resources to protect their population. It is not an equal world. We might argue if it is fair.
Anyway, 2020 endurance test drive will possibly make survivors stronger. Maybe not stronger enough for the next unknown black swan. The truth is: we are never ready because challenges are never done.
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Daniel Motta is the Founder and CEO of BMI Blue Management Institute, a leading niche consulting firm. He is a global thought leader focused on culture, strategy and leadership. He has a PhD in Economics, MSc in Financial Economics and BA in Economics. He is also an OPMer from Harvard Business School. He is the Managing Director of USA-based VC company White Fox Capital. He was a co-founder of Brazilian Society of Finance. He currently serves NGO UNIBES as Strategic Planning Principal. He is the author of the best selling books Essential Leadership and book Anthesis. He also has three articles published by Harvard Business Review.