Humanism over Nationalism: An Agile Approach to Dealing with Pandemics

by Jeff Himmelright

Waiting for WhatsApp Messages

On Friday the 13th of March 2020, my wife and I were nervously checking our WhatsApp messages to hear from our two sons that their flights had arrived safely and, more importantly, that our sons had made it through the customs security checkpoint of their respective destinations. Just two days prior, they had flown from Prague to visit with a friend and hang out in London. But a lot had happened in the two short days since they had arrived in London on March 11th.

The Isolationist Reaction

Earlier that morning I awoke to the news that Trump had announced a ban on all air travel from 26 European countries into the U.S. for the next 30 days. Then we heard news that the Czech Republic was shutting down its borders as well and not allowing anymore non-Czech citizens into the country via air, train, or bus by midnight beginning the Saturday. Although we could not confirm any of this news officially, it was concerning to say the least. The details were confusing as well. One of my sons is a student in Prague, and my other son had taken a Flix Bus to join him and fly to London. Now we had to scramble to make sure they had all documents in order so that they would arrive back in Prague and not be turned away or stuck in quarantine.

The Trump travel ban announcement was also very confusing, but moreover, it painted a picture of nationalism over humanity. Furthermore, it brought into question the effectiveness of such a policy, as one analyst said, it was like closing the barn doors after the horses had run out. While trying to digest all of this information, I began to think more about how we humans were handling this pandemic in silos; that is, silos based on man-made political boundaries being used as containment areas and employing separate policies.

Agile Transformations are not just for Businesses

For the past 12 years I have been working in organizations that are undergoing transformations; in other words, they are trying to break down the traditional organizational silos and enable their work forces to more easily connect through their natural networks to enhance cross-functional collaboration. This endeavor is not an easy one, but it is nevertheless very critical for survival.

Many organizations have come to understand that the world is not a set of compartmentalized activities and events, but rather a complex network of interrelated activities. Therefore, many organizations are currently embracing (albeit sometimes reluctantly) a structural organizational transformation, sometimes referred to as an Agile transformation, which will enable them to more quickly respond to disruptions in their fast-changing industries. If there is any question about this phenomenon, one need only research the most often sought-after engagement activities of consultancy firms; they are extremely profitable in this realm.

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”

-  W. Edwards Deming

While watching what was happening with the strategies and policies employed by various governments to combat the Coronavirus pandemic, it reminded me of the traditional silos in organizations. In other words, we are trying to solve a 21st century problem with a 20th century mentality.

Governments are basing decisions within their political borders; i.e., within artificial lines on a map, rather than a holistic approach to containing the spread of a bug that will never recognize political borders. The question I ask is this: Why do we allow this strategy and reasoning to be an acceptable way to fight an epidemic of global proportions? Why can we not approach this situation in a more collaborative and holistic way?

Imagine if the governments were to stop perceiving the world in a nationalistic view made up of artificial borders, but rather try to recognize the global interconnectivity of humans, events, activities, and of course, global supply chains. (Through experience, I suspect that it will be the loss of money that invokes the greatest sense of urgency.)

Chinese Medical Team Arrives in Italy

While watching the news on the night after the Trump announcement of travel restrictions, I saw another story aired which gave me hope for humanity and, I’ll admit, goosebumps. A team of Chinese medical experts had arrived in Italy to share their knowledge and help stem the rise of the Coronavirus cases and deaths. What a concept!

A Chinese team of experts pose for a photograph with head of the Italian Red Cross Francesco Rocca after arriving at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on a chartered plane with a consignment of medical supplies including respirators and masks, to help Italy cope with a coronavirus outbreak, in Rome, Italy, March 12, 2020. Aeroporti di Roma (AdR)/Handout via REUTERS.

Imagine nations working together to identify high-risk areas, addressing them based on the concentration of potentially infectious cases, and then sharing that knowledge, rather than the current predominant strategy of each country fending for itself by focusing within specific political borders. For example, if multiple methods of transportation (bus, train, ferry, plane) are moving people (and germs) between Hamburg, Germany and Copenhagen, Denmark, does it make sense for a lockdown and quarantine policy to be fully implemented within one political boundary like Copenhagen, but a completely different policy in Hamburg?

Responding to Change Over Following a Plan

Make no mistake, there must be a plan. From what I have been reading and hearing from top medical specialists, the critical strategy is to “flatten the curve” of impacts to our health-care systems. In other words, in order to handle a pandemic effectively, we need to quickly reduce the concentration of cases that will rapidly overwhelm the capacity of our health care systems (see the Figure 1).

Figure 1: Source: World Economic Forum via CDC and the Economist.

The plan exists, but the rules of this game change quickly. How do we execute this plan? Moreover, how do we adapt when our plan needs to be modified? In order to truly engage in this battle against a bug that is invisible and can only be detected when it infects people who then must be tested in order to confirm, we must approach it with a strategy that breaks down silos. We must employ a strategy that builds upon empirical observations, rapid communication, and shifting resources to new areas – an approach similar to that discussed at great length in General Stanley McChrystal’s book, Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World.

The primary objective is understood and shared, but the decision-making power will need to be diffused to teams who are traveling from location to location with medical supplies, test kits, and educational material for the most impacted population areas. These teams should be international and diverse in terms of nationality, spoken languages, and fields of expertise, such as medical staff, statistical data analysis, and laboratory testing. This would be an agile team with common objectives and shared humanistic values; the qualities of integrity, respect and compassion, which are also important components of medical education.

Maps Causing Misconceptions

Unfortunately, the mass media is providing us with misleading maps of national boundaries, which lead to misconceptions as to which countries are mishandling the situation and further invoking blame. On the contrary, we should be viewing hot areas that are interconnected, regardless of the political boundary.

Figure 2: Source ABC News Photo Illustration, Johns Hopkins CSSE

For example, a world heat-map view of the Coronavirus outbreak shows the entire United States as a red zone of Coronavirus cases, yet as of the time of the map creation, there was only a single reported case in Alaska, which has a land mass roughly equivalent to the land mass of Germany, Italy, Spain, and France combined, yet they are the same color on the map. The map in Figure 2 above adds absolutely no value to our understanding of the spread of this virus. The map in Figure 3 at least provides a scope of the concentration by areas, unfortunately only in the United States.

Figure 3: Source The New York Times; Tracking Every Coronavirus Case in the U.S.: Full Map (Where cases have been reported); Updated March 14, 2020, 7:50 a.m. E.T.

The Breakdown Silos Strategy

Taking the example from the Chinese medical team who visited Italy (or as I call the "Virus Busters"), governments would combine resources to form self-organizing teams possibly under the World Health Organization (WHO). These high-performing medical teams would be rushed by the quickest transport possible along with testing kits to the highest impacted areas (regardless of political borders), where they would test, quarantine, educate local medical authorities as well as people, and move on to the next. Eventually, teams could be deployed to specific geographic areas that have the potential of an escalated outbreak, to begin preventing the increase rather than just containing it.

As often demonstrated within space programs where governments and private industry work together to accomplish a shared objective, the same concept applies here. They would work together to help fund and create highly effective teams, working under a team of teams, sharing information, learning from each other, reacting, improvising, and improving as they go. These teams would have no loyalty to national or political affiliations; they would be focused on stopping the spread of a dangerous virus for the sake of humanity, not for a country. The Covid-19 moves among people with no constraints based on race, ethnicity, sex, religion, political affiliation, social status, and certainly not based on citizenship. In this regard, we simply cannot choose to battle it in a fragmented way.

Epilogue

Both our boys arrived safely and were permitted to enter their respective destinations, one back to Prague and the other we diverted to Munich, Germany after we changed his flight. Perhaps we were caught up in the pandemonium that was broadcasting all throughout the news and social media during those three crazy days in March when every minute seemed to bring on a breaking news story surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic. But as parents, we felt the need to monitor and have contingency plans; after all, this was a disruption! As part of humanity, we must all come to terms that we are no longer simply defined by our national citizenship, but rather we are all part of a global village. This Humanism mindset is critical if we are to deal with current and future pandemics among other global issues.

What is the shared vision of the human race?

Thank you for reading!