An invitation to co-create a vibrant post-corona world

An Historical Moment

As the first few days of this crisis hit and people began quarantining in their homes in an effort to "flatten the curve", I immediately felt that this was one of those events that changes the course of human history. I wrote to some of my professional colleagues in those momentous first days that I believed that future historians would write about a pre- and post-corona world. One colleague responded by saying that we had gone through several crises in our lifetime - 9/11 and the financial crash of 2008/2009 - and not much changed in the way society functions. Why should this time be different?

Eight weeks into this crisis (at least in Europe!), I believe we have collectively begun to sense that this crisis is different. In none of the previous crises have people across the globe been subjected to changing the way they spend time with family, teach their children, communicate with each other, work together, and travel (or better said don't travel). These imposed behavioral changes are being shared by BILLIONS of people across the globe. I believe we have to go back to World War II to find a relatively recent comparable episode in human history which impacted so many people in similar ways at the same time.

As countries and economies re-emerge after the lockdown, the temptation will be great to return to life as we knew it, but my guess is that the virus will not permit that for many months to come. As stay-at-home restrictions loosen up, resurgences in contagion will begin to rise again - leading to further shutdowns (most likely localized). Certainly former cultural norms such as handshakes and the European penchant to kiss your acquaintances on both cheeks will not be making a comeback anytime soon.

What is struggling to emerge?

This crisis has already caused untold sorrows for millions who have lost loved ones and significant dislocations for those suffering from the impact on the economy. This suffering will reverberate throughout society in the months and years to come. I shudder at the toll this will take on individuals, families, communities and society.  

With every crisis however there is an accompanying opportunity.  It is like a forest fire which in the wake of its destruction makes room for new growth. The most important question I believe we have confronting us at this moment is: How will we take advantage of this singular moment in human history to improve our lot?  The stakes could not be higher and there is no guarantee that the change will be for the better. After all, the Great Depression of the 1930s was an incubator for fascism. How can we get it right this time?

A Ray of Hope

I for one see a ray of hope in some of the collective action and awareness we are witnessing across the globe. On a local scale connections are happening in neighborhoods which would not have happenned before. At 9 p.m. every evening for the past two months many of our neighbors have come out to give thanks to the essential workers doing their jobs on the front line and keeping the rest of us safe. As a result, we have finally gotten to know our neighbors in the apartment complex across the street. 

In our own apartment complex we have instituted "Apero-Sunday".  Every Sunday at 6 p.m. the inhabitants of our building appear on their balconies with a cocktail of their choice and we wish each other continued health and well-being and then chat for about 30 minutes. I have never been so well informed on how each of my neighbors is doing. The "Apero-Sunday" is infectious and little by little people from adjacent buildings are joining us in this regular Sunday ritual.

The other phenomenon which has touched my heart comes from musicians. Quarantined, isolated, unable to perform on stage, they have nevertheless founds ways to reach us. I believe a new art form may have been born - remote choirs and remote orchestras.  One example that literally brought me to tears occurred early on in the crisis. As Italy was the epicenter of the pandemic, a choir sung the chorus ouverture to Verdi's opera Nabucco. It was a symbolic masterpiece. The opera Nabucco is seen by many scholars to represent the Italian Risorgimento in the 19th century that led to the unification of Italy. The song itself - known as the "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves" - moans about their current suffering and longs for the country they have lost. This artistic performance was dedicated to the medical workers of Italy.

Since watching that video my YouTube feed has been filled with a myriad of similar offerings - not only from choirs, but also from orchestras, rock bands, jazz musicians. And it has come from all over the world. I have had the opportunity to see such productions from places like Australia, Thailand and Senegal. Perhaps most important of all, amateur groups have joined the fray and people quite literally from all over the world have been singing together (here is an example of people from 15 different countries singing together).

Setting my stake in the ground

On the basis of these two examples, I would like to set forth my vision for a post-corona world. If we want to create a different world, we need to articulate what that world looks like. For me that new world can be built around what might at first appear a paradox: individuals that are part of strong local communities and at the same time interconnected with the rest of humanity on a planetary scale through the virtues of technology. We see that this is possible, why is it desirable (maybe even necessary)?

This may seem like an inordinately simple analysis, but I believe that at the center of what ails humanity today is a rampant uncontrolled individualism.  At the heart of our current economic model is Adam Smith's "enlightened self-interest" working like an "invisible hand" to magically provide the best social outcomes for all. This thinking from the 18th century has had an incredible beneficial impact on humanity - leading to the acknowledgement and protection of individual rights, freedom of choice, personal dignity and robust self-reliance. It has also unleashed economic productivity the likes of which have never been seen before. In my opinion, however, this kind of thinking has gone too far. It doesn't need to be replaced. But it does need a counterbalance.

Physics and biology tell us that everything is interconnected.  A wonderful image of that interconnectedness was provided by David Bohm - acknowledged to be one of most significant theoretical scientists of the 20th century. He said that the most fundamental particles are like waves in an ocean. As they rise up, they seem to be individual objects, but they are really just part of the ocean. So it is with the fundamental particles in nature. They appear independant, but they are actually all interconnected. If particles at the most fundamental level are interconnected - it follows - then so are we.

Yet this reality of interconnectdness is not reflective of how we behave in society. We act as though we were completely autonomous - as if we did not depend on anything else but our own capabilities. This pandemic has laid bare the lie to this fiction as we begin to realize that without the so-called "essential workers", society would not function.

Unfortunately this illusion of autonomy has some very serious drawbacks. Let us just take one example of one of those serious drawbacks (spoiler alert - there are many more) - the rise of loneliness in modern society. With each of us going about our lives as though we were independant of everyone else a curious phenomenon has taken place. Despite the fact that there are ca. 8 billion people on the planet and that through the internet we are more connected than ever, there has been a steady rise in self-reported loneliness in all major countries.

Loneliness can lead to depression and mental illness and to destructive behaviors such as substance abuse.

"Interactive Neighborhood Spaces" and "Collaborative Learning"

As an antidote to rampant individualism I offer two ideas for a better tomorrow. Most of us live in neighborhoods surrounded by myriads of people who for the most part remain anonymous. Creating a healthier society should begin in my opinion by connecting with those people who are physically closest to us - our neighbors. Why not institute an "Apero-Sunday" as a regular way to keep in touch? Or better yet, why not create spaces and build neighborhoods around areas for people to meetand interact locally. A conscious effort to strengthen local communities could lead to completely new ways of structuring our living environments and transform our interaction with our neighbors. I am aware that many cities have projects and initiatives to strengthen local communities. What I am proposing here is not just a random architectural or urban planning project or an pro-active community center, but a complete rethinking of how we live with the people surrounding us. This requires not only new concepts of spaces but also providing the opportunity for meaningful interactions. In other words, it requires neighborhoods conceived and planned with the meaningful interaction of the community as the central focal point.

On the other end of the spectrum, we can foster human connection literally planet-wide with the help of technology. Typically we look at learning as an individual activity. We study and learn alone - take tests alone to measure our progress. There is nothing wrong with this, but as the world becomes more complex, we have begun to realize that lifelong learning is a necessity and that individual learning may not be sufficient. Besides social learning has been shown to be one of the most effective ways of learning. We can and we should create a culture of learning with and from each other that can liteally take place on a planetary scale. In the same manner in which we connect virtually to sing together, we can connect virtually to learn together. Over the past several years, we have been pioneering a process of Peer-to-Peer Learning inside of organizations. We have seen how this process can span geographies. If this type of learning can take place inside of organizations across the globe, why not in society as well?

Carpe Diem

This is not the time to be timid. We live in an historical time. The pandemic is only one of the major phenomena shaking the foundations of our civilization. Climate change and social inequality equally threaten our way of living. Digitalization promises to upend all of our former concepts of how we work together. It is a time to be bold and to create the future we want to see. During the course of history there are times when people have arisen to redefine the society in which they live. This is our opportunity.