COVID-19: strategy lessons from the front lines

The human tragedy associated with the global pandemic we all continue to face is truly immeasurable and sadly – after all this time – it still continues to surprise us though there seems to be some hope on the horizon. To say that the decision makers and strategist have had an immensely difficult job during the spread and impact of coronavirus would be an understatement. There is no doubt that there will be many lessons learned from this pandemic for healthcare leadership and professionals, politicians, as well as managers across the many business sectors and government agencies that have been touched by this disease. With this in mind, leaders and strategist in all industries also need to take note. COVID-19 has now been in the headlines for well over a year. I cannot recall a sustained period when government strategies are so publicly displayed for scrutiny and criticism by so many, in literally every corner of the globe simultaneously. I have written in the past about strategy and its crucial role in driving organizations towards goals and objectives. Strategy is about making conscious decisions in an effort to attain goals that are defined by an organization’s principles, or in the case of COVID-19, a government’s public policy. Every day, we have a front row seat to all the action. We hear about policies, see strategies being debated and formed and the impact of each as it is played out in our own communities or in a nation on the other side of the world. Use this opportunity to witness strategy in action. Whether you agree or disagree with a particular approach or path isn’t as important as learning from this massive and very public creation and application of strategy.

Take the time to dissect strategies, looking for nuggets that you can use later. This isn’t about trying to re-write the strategies in an attempt to do a better job or to highlight issues, but rather to study what seemed to work and not work. The power of hindsight can be a wonderful thing. Perhaps a few areas you might wish to examine are: timing, ability to execute, frequency and degree of change, response to criticism, communications, and change management.

Strategy plays a role in everything that we do. As you continue to stay abreast of coronavirus, informing yourself to make your environment a safer place and to better protect your loved ones, take a bit of time and use your ‘strategy lens’ to pick up some lessons that you can adopt for your next strategy effort.

About the Author: David Tom is Managing Director at the Inthink Group and has crafted and executed many strategic plans both as a business leader and management consultant and has written this post as a call to action for leaders to take note of the development and execution of strategy in response to COVID-19. 

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