2020 The Movie.(Spoiler Alert. The first half is rubbish.)
Can you imagine you're back in 2018 and “2020” was a blockbuster disaster movie that you were pitching to a studio?
Producer: “Ok whaddya got?”
Me: “Right, so the story opens with a lively crowd chinking glasses together at a New Years Eve house party as fireworks light up the sky over Sydney. Auld Lang Syne simmers in the background and we see a spark of hope in the eyes of public of the new decade to come.
The atmosphere quickly dimmers as headlines start to pour in from around the world as whispers of World War 3 hit the news stands and tensions boil over with the US and Iran resulting in a military exchange.
Cautious relief sweeps over the globe that this conflict is being put to rest for now, but closer to home one of the driest periods in Australia’s history culminates in much of the nation literally burning to the ground making the catastrophic Brazilian forest fires of 2019 look like a school trip campfire. The global community unites in an outpouring of support as a vast wilderness is destroyed and the front line firefighters emerge as heroes.
Little do they know it is but a practice run for the epic turmoil the earth’s citizens are about to endure.
We cut to a bustling wet market in China. We hear bartering, shouting, laughter and see the activity. We follow an individual home who soon develops flu like symptoms and a pattern emerges as the district of Wuhan suddenly becomes the epicentre of an outbreak. Global travel and governmental apathy cause the perfect conditions for the aggressive virus to spread.
Governments can no longer ignore the rising tide of cases as nearly every country is forced to take drastic and unmitigated action, locking down their citizens and therefore their economies. As country leaders are forced to play a balancing act of saving lives or saving livelihoods, financial markets go into free fall, civil unrest bubbles, panic and fear take hold sparking irrational behaviours like stockpiling and fist-fighting for toilet paper and hand sanitizer .
As people become slaves to their homes and their borders and ordered to remain at a significant distance from their fellow human beings, valiant medical teams are stretched to capacity as many put themselves in the line of fire to rescue the masses. The citizens of the globe are on their knees to help stem the spread and live in hope for a vaccine and life as we know it may never be the same…oh yeah and in the background a locust swarm in Africa, earthquakes, volcanos, monsoons and oh there are some killer hornets swarming about as well.”
Producer: “Wow. Albeit an incredible one, that’s an entirely unbelievable story. Not sure if people would buy a ticket for that nor have the bandwidth (this producer likes management speak) to take it all in...and this is all meant to have happened in a year yeah?"
Me: "5 months actually"
Producer: "It’s actually about 6 separate movies you’ve pitched me there. Can you choose just one? Oh and it needs an ending. How does it end?”
Me: “Erm... I hadn’t really worked out how it wraps up yet. Ah this could be interesting... The US President emerges as the hero. He predicts that the virus will disappear like magic and so spends 4 hours a day waving around a wand that looks like a golf club until it does!”
Producer: “Hmmm sounds wishy washy but I agree the US president should save the world. That has never been done before on film. Look, wouldn’t it be easier if in the end he initiates a mass household disinfectant injection scheme and just kills this thing once and for all.”
Me: “Errr are you ****ing insane??”
Unfortunately this is 2020 and this is a brief, albeit largely representative of the story so far. A documentary if you will. Eesh!
What an uplifting article you say. You could have just read the news if you wanted to feel this good.
Like everyone I hope that after all this calms down a bit and travel restrictions loosen up we can all make a bee-line for the land of milk and honey.
As business owners, managers and marketers it can feel like we don’t have many options right now to positively effect change in this crisis.
Sadly there are businesses where the credits are already rolling. Many of those were/are in vulnerable industries and devastatingly without a buffer, the ending was something they simply couldn’t control.
But there are others who recognised their vulnerable position in time and have been fortunate enough to innovate, pivot, diversify or re-direct their business for a new world and are writing their sequel now.
Many are doing ok just holding their nostrils out of the water getting ready to ramp up again.
And some companies finally have the world realising the value of their business offering and are part of the lucky few where their products and services are enjoying the greatest demand they've ever had.
What has come about in many businesses and in personal lives is, at the very least, an opportunity to reflect on what the future looks like and how to prioritise a better way of doing things (more than 2 weeks over a boozy Christmas/New Year normally affords)
As the accelerating pace of innovation and change has been an issue for many businesses the world over before Covid-19, it has now shown that great things can be achieved in a short period of time. We either embrace change or it is forced upon us.
But for many trying to catch the now, let alone the future, with limited resources, the fundamental basics of great business is left behind. Those basics are what we have to fall back on when the rest goes to pot. Control the controllables as they say!
What can you control?
There is a huge list of controllables. Here is a brief list of basics as a starter.
- How you care for and answer the needs of your own people
- How you meet and deliver to the needs of your target audience
- How you assess the customers future needs
- How you communicate what you do and the communication methods
- How you create and maintain phenomenal value
- How you audit inefficiencies
- How you systemise and automate for more efficiency
- How can you prioritise revenue generating activities as opposed to revenue detracting activities
- How can we make our business as uncomplicated and simple as possible
(Please add to the list in comments!)
At OzCoWilliams with Cinemas temporarily out of action it has been a great opportunity for us to look at what basics we can improve in all areas of the business after 17 years of growth to a screeching to a grinding stop and now a re-start in sight. You know, all the things you say you are going to do but somehow get lost on a to do list somewhere in the business of running your business.
One thing is for certain is that you only have to take an anecdotal glance at the increased traffic on the roads, beaches, shopping centres, cafes, playgrounds etc as Queensland opens up and even the buzz in the co-working space I'm in (Wotso Sippy Downs), to see how we've been absolutely bursting for life to get back to normal. That can only be a good thing for business in general for everyone coming around the corner. So time is limited to get the house in order whether in hibernation or on the fly, and get ready to go again!
Another certainty is that bad things happen and will happen again. Hopefully not to the same earth shattering proportions. Continually fine tuning the basics will help as much as possible to vaccinate your business and protect it against the next big catastrophe. No-one reading this has been entirely devoid of adversity prior to Covid-19 I assume in business or in life.
Have you had time to reflect on your business? Will you be making changes, adaptations or cracking on as per normal? Maybe you've been busier than ever, thinking about starting something new or have used the time to wind down/hibernate before ramping up? Do you think they way we do business has fundamentally changed? Would be great to understand where you are at in May 2020.
Here is to the sequel...
2021 A Feelgood Movie. Obviously set in the not too Socially Distant Future.
(Dude...seriously put your tongue away this is the 20's)
P.S. This new movie Tenet is going to be a ripper of a way to kick off the re-opening of cinemas in July....it's a real movie. Put yourself in a writers shoes now. How do you create something more adrenaline inducing, thrilling and scary than what we've all been and going through!?
Chevy Kelly is the Business Director of OzCoWilliams Cinema Advertising, the largest independent cinema advertising company in Queensland that has been putting great companies small, medium and large on the big screen to millions of local cinema audiences since 2003.