It's time to move on.

As people come to terms with the fact that Covid-19 and its aftermath is here to stay, there is a growing sense of restlessness on how long can we limit the movement and mobility around the world. It is likely that most of the world will get back on its feet over the next few weeks, albeit with a few safety norms in place, since being holed up in our houses until we find a vaccine isn’t a realistic solution. In fact, in many countries, this current cure is turning out to be more painful than the disease itself, especially for the sustenance of billions of under-served citizens that don’t have the resources to afford this isolation anymore.

It feels a bit like the time when a plane lands and we anxiously start lining up in the passenger aisle. We all know that the exit door will eventually open up and we will be out and about. In this case, no one wants to be the first one to get out of the plane, nor the last one - everyone wants to be placed somewhere in the middle.

As we get down from this plane, it is clear that life will not be the same again. Some things would have changed forever. It will be a waste of a pandemic if it didn’t teach us a few lessons that we carry close to our hearts as we go about finding our comfort in the new norm. 

Following are the top five learning that struck me the most as the events unfolded in the past few weeks around the world. These are the learnings that we must keep in mind, as we dwell upon a safe exit plan from the global crisis we find ourselves in: 

1. Going digital de-risks you.

Personally or professionally, those that were digitally connected have been more resilient in weathering the pandemic. Going digital has always had a fair share of old-school detractors and new age challengers. Arguments in favor of brick and mortar industries, or the immense advantage of being “in-person” for important meetings or moments have always had its passionate believers. But never before has the push towards going online been as emphatic as it has been in the last 3 months. It seems like we have covered the journey of a decade towards going digital, in the last few weeks. In the process, we have altered some deep rooted habits of people and have been much more digitally connected than ever before in history. Social media, online games, video conferencing and e-commerce have all seen mind-boggling growth trends and defining moments throughout this pandemic. 

Going digital has its own advantages and is definitely a more sustainable way forward in all that we do. First it was argued to be a cost-friendly and efficient option. However, with the pandemic, it is clear that you need to be digitally connected with the world to de-risk your businesses. That’s a much more compelling argument in its favor than being just another cost saving initiative cause it hits at the heart of the very existence & survival of any establishment. This growing trend promises to reduce carbon footprint, remove the clutter and traffic in the big cities, and boosts our chances of providing an equal opportunity employment in truest of senses for the first time as work from your place of choice becomes available to all, equally. 

This growing trend of going digital promises to reduce carbon footprint, removes the clutter and traffic in the big cities, and boosts our chances of providing equal opportunity employment in the truest of senses for the first time as work from your place of choice becomes available to all, equally. 

As we get back to the new norm, we must keep growing with the lessons we learnt in connecting ourselves over video-calls, social media and e-Commerce. Being digitally connected, isn’t just for the time when a pandemic strikes, it is a new way of life. It may just help prevent the next pandemic, with information and data exchange becoming seamless across the world. 

2. Governments can prioritize and move fast.

Who would have thought that we’d be able to restrict the movement of nearly 3 billion people around the world in the matter of weeks & put them in self-quarantine. The world came to a screeching halt in many countries who took extreme measures in order to curb the spread of the virus. Indian Railways, the largest rail network in the world, responsible for safely transporting over 23 million people everyday and over 8 billion people every year, was brought down to a complete halt, in a matter of days - first time since it was established in 1853.

The strategic priorities rapidly shifted to protecting people as well as providing essential services at all times - which makes one wonder why wasn’t this a priority always.

Hospitals that take years to build are getting constructed in days and weeks. Health and cleanliness finally made it to the front page news more often than temples and mosques. Ideological differences and religion took a backseat as no one seems to be missing it dearly. After a few initial bouts, the Governments figured out a way to work together in most countries and showed that the they can actually prioritize and get important work done quickly. Decisions that took decades were being made in weeks. 

As we get out of our houses now, the question will always remain on how unprepared and fragile all of our systems were to take care of its people around the world. And the Governments and Health authorities, must continue to introspect this situation to further our journey of improving the infrastructure, mobility and systems to protect our people when the time comes, against all odds and political differences. 

3. Companies are being discussed by how they treat their employees during a crisis.

Barring a few exceptions, most companies are passing through one of their worst times across the world. Business hasn’t been easy and will take some time to recover in spite of all efforts and good intentions. Companies have taken wide-ranging measures from delaying annual increments, to pay-cuts and furloughs, to lay-offs and ultimately shutting down a few operations that have stopped making commercial sense overnight in the new world that is emerging now. Amidst all this gloom and doom, what has emerged like a strong differentiator worldwide, is how the companies treat their employees during the crisis. 

Let’s understand two examples of same news but delivered differently:

Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky recently announced the laying off of 1,900 employees in a letter that is touted to become a bench-mark of how the decision of layoffs should be officially communicated across a large organisation. It won the internet all over, for its transparency and empathy towards those that are being let go.         

Around the same time, Indiabulls Group announced laying off 2,000 employees in a manner that didn’t seem transparent and execution lacked empathy. Social media went berserk with the questionable manner in which this was carried out, given that Indiabulls had donated a sizable chunk of money to PM CARES fund and announced it publicly, just a couple of weeks before the lay-offs. 

Both companies ended up letting go of almost the same number of people, and probably for similar reasons - business being hit for a long term. However, both aroused a completely different set of reaction from their employees and social media alike. 

In summary, people can understand & process difficult business decisions as long as they are communicated transparently and with empathy. Companies are increasingly coming to terms with understanding this seemingly simple but often ignored principle of how to treat employees with respect and empathy, as the consequences are getting more severe. 

As we move on from the pandemic, it will be important to keep this lesson close to our hearts as leaders. We must continue to work towards building a culture where communicating with your employees transparently, practicing empathy at work and creating people-centric work cultures becomes the cornerstone of a company's success. 

4. Nature will always find a way to create a balance.

It took a while for the world to reconcile with the fact that a strain of virus has brought the entire mankind down on its knees. If there was one purpose that the lock-down effectively served, it was to give people the time they needed to come to terms with that fact. In the constant tug of war between environmentalists and non-believers of climate change, it was the virus that finally won. Nature found her way to slow down the cycle of destruction and kept the predator in check, even if it was temporary. Nature showed us that it will not take centuries for the impact of our decisions to be felt on our very survival. If this doesn’t make us more conscious about how we should co-exist in harmony with other species & natural resources of the planet, then the Nature will strike again and this time more severely, to remind us that we are merely one amongst the many cohabitants on this planet and not an irreplaceable one, either. We cannot afford to disturb the balance which is at the very core of our survival and that of billions of other species on this beautiful planet. 

Every time we take more from our environment, than what we should, we are moving closer to inviting the wrath of the nature, that will eventually take out the predator and restore the balance on the planet. 

As we wake up and set our foot out on the ground, we need to be immensely conscious of what we consume and how that impacts the environment around us. Every time we take more from our environment, than we should, we will be moving closer to inviting the wrath of the nature, that will eventually take out the predator and restore the balance on the planet. 

5. Practicing gratitude.

It is intrinsic in human nature to take things for granted until they stop being easily available to us. As the services became scarce and quarantine rules became stricter, we realized the value of all that was available to us easily in the pre-pandemic world - the biggest one being our freedom to roam around and socialize. We also learnt the value of health care workers, cleanliness agents, cops, domestic service providers and several others, whose services or the lack of it, made a huge difference in the way we operate daily. We have thanked them in our ways and should continue to do that, even if the danger of pandemic is not hanging on our heads.

As the pandemic ends, we need to carry that feeling of gratitude through with integrity and kindness. As we off-load ourselves from this self-isolation, and mix again with the familiar crowds that we have yearned to be with, we must carry these handful of lessons learned to ensure that the generations to come don’t have to go through this or something much worse to realize what could have been avoided. 

Earth has an extremely powerful characteristic of self-healing. It will continue to heal and regenerate itself as long as the process isn’t disturbed by mankind’s continuous disruptions to meet its own selfish ends. When these disruptions become overbearing, nature gives out a wake-up call. This time it was in the form of a Virus, that may end up taking half a million human lives on earth before it is tamed. Next time, it could be much worse.