2020 – a year of disruption and inspiration

What a year it has been. I remember seeing a quote in 2019 that said the pace of change will never be this slow again when it comes to the way we live our lives. At the time, I smiled, and thought I knew what that meant. Well, 2020, has certainly made me rethink that quote.

This year has been a surprising year, a tough year but it has also been inspiring in so many ways. There are big things that stand out for me – and smaller things too. In the wider world, I have been deeply inspired by the way communities came together to help each other. At home, it was my wife’s dedication and energy as she carried on running a voluntary project to rehabilitate a local housing estate throughout the COVID-19 restrictions. And at Shell, many of our colleagues were an inspiration to us all when the going really did get tough.

There are many Shell examples I could pick from across the world. Just one, was at our petrochemicals plant that is under construction in Pennsylvania, USA. I have been there quite a few times in the past, and I struggle to get my head around how anyone could manage a project of that scale during a global pandemic. How do you move out nearly 8,000 people, almost from one day to the next? And then, just a few months later, how do you bring them back in a very phased and controlled manner, so that they can resume work safely? I think it is because we have people who put extraordinary effort into making sure that everyone is safe. This shows great care. The teams are kept safe whether they are being transported to the site, or working, or even having their lunches. That is difficult enough in a normal situation, but they made it happen this year. Even with meticulous planning, that is just incredible. The challenges are far from over, of course, but I am confident that the teams will approach everything with the same spirit.

There have been unexpected challenges for all of us this year. And as I reflect on 2020, I think about the smaller things that have changed too. Because although nothing compares to the experience of those frontline health workers dealing directly with the pandemic, even the smaller things can have a big impact over time. Take office life. There has been an enormous shift from the way we used to go about our work and how we interacted with people. Now it is all distilled through a 40 by 30 centimetres screen where everything is supposed to happen.

This can be a hard adjustment. I would urge anyone who is struggling with this new remote way of working – and living – to reach out to others. It is not always easy, and if you do not have family around, call a friend, or someone you can talk to. Tell them you are finding it tough. I would not be surprised if they answered: “You know what? Me too.” Again, it comes down to care.

Besides my family, one of the other things that keeps me going is exercise. I really needed it health-wise and mentally too. And finally, another source of inspiration was to try a new skill. I have been learning Italian, but as I am now struggling to keep it up, one resolution for 2021 is to push myself on this. Ci proverò!

For me, the important thing is to make the most of change. And after the many inspiring ways that I have seen family, colleagues and whole communities responding to such disruption, I look forward to next year with optimism. Look after yourselves, stay safe and take care of each other.

Watch this video to see how the teams took action at the Shell site in Pennsylvania, USA.