The New Normal is anything but...

Working from home means “living in the office” - Transformations for a world After Covid-Disruption.

This insightful, crowd-sourced blog was created in 6 minutes. 

How? On QUBE.

It used to be that you could casually toss into a conversation how you had to travel for business. It was a sly way of showing-off because it showed you were, and made you feel important. Guess what? People love to travel. And it had a benefit. It used to be that the only way to do serious work was to meet face to face. 

In the days of BC (Before Covid), cities grew. People moved to the suburbs. Businesses grew, spreading out over countries then regions. So we travelled. We woke every day and filled trains, roads and boats. We spent a third of a day doing face-to-face work. And over time what was common was treated as “normal”. 

But once #covid 19 speared our hearts with fear and governments locked people down there were two choices. We needed to do things differently or not do anything at all. People do not like change, they don’t like new rules. And this change was forced upon them.

If the future you imagine doesn’t scare you, you are just re-imagining your past

Now, After covid-Disruption (AD), thought leaders and opinion writers tell us that Covid-19 will not change everything although they expect corporate travel to reduce drastically. They suggest that 20% or thereabouts of people will work from home as the others joyfully return to work. In the same way as a caterpillar can’t imagine what it is like to fly, they are unable to imagine a future that is not the same frame as the past. That is why they are wrong.

We’ve discovered some hidden secrets. These gems weren’t really secrets. The gems were laid in plain sight. But as you know, you see with your brain not your eyes and our BC brains hid them from us. We discovered that doing things differently can create better relationships and more efficient working. We stumbled over the fact that collaboration, not co-location, builds relationships. It became clear that relying on our old and common routines was enough to take us two years back but not enough to take us forward. We could see that only companies that can manage in a new world way will thrive.  

At the same time, the barriers to digital working are reduced as the cost of good network connectivity falls. It becomes clear that digital transformation is no longer just a “nice to have”.  Above all, looking at the clear skies of lockdown and the birdsong we could hear once more it is clear that our BC ways had been silently killing the living planet.

Living in the office beats working from home

 And what few have yet to realise is that now we know work and location are decoupled for all knowledge worker jobs, anyone with any sense will seek employment anywhere in the time zone they spend their waking hours in. They will not seek employment they can travel to and from each day. A third of the world will open up to each individual with skills. Hard-working productive people will hold two or more jobs in three or four different countries. Every government income tax system is now no longer fit for purpose. 'Living in the office' will mean choosing the best employer or customers to support your living. Entrepreneurs will seek the customers they need not just the customers they can physically reach. They will ruthlessly harvest the increased global talent pool scooping up the best.

Alongside this many people have now made deep emotional connections with family and local friends. Over the 18 months they have built a nest of interconnected twigs containing their emotional priorities. These people will not easily be prised out and sent back to a 6am commute and court shoe wearing. 

The place I like to work is in my head. J Seinfeld

The implications are clear whoever you are or whatever your organisation. You will miss a great opportunity if you are not willing to embrace change. You will miss out on gaining a wide and new range of diverse people and thoughts. Leaders are going to have to evolve their mental models on how to lead. And should they fail to be creative in co-opting global cultures they will discover fast that they will not reach the best results. 

So what should you do? You need to transform. In the same way as to become a butterfly you must keep the caterpillar alive and fed while learning new capabilities in the chrysalis and unlearning the caterpillar talents, you will need to be bold and try something different. Everything you need to thrive in this world is what you didn’t in BC, so you will need to get out of your own head. You can look to trailblazers for inspiration but you will have to take the plunge yourself.

You will need to find ways to go beyond hierarchy. You will have to find routes to do the one thing that almost all digital approaches fail at, increase inclusion and let everyone feel that they are present though not all in the same room.

As a leader now you are clear on why you must transform. Be mischievous and try new paths recognising that the ones that instil the most fear in you are probably the best. And that will mean you must be courageous.

Soon you will look back at what has become common and you will think of it as normal. Your new normal will be everything but normal.

End.

About this Blogpost

This blogpost was created collaboratively on QUBE using the EurekaBlog. EurekaBlog is a Performance Enhancement Tool (PET) embedded in the QUBE super real campus for everyone to use. There are dozens of People Engagement Tools (PET) that allow enjoyable collaborative work. And these Possibility Exploration Tools (PET) allow organisations to transform and innovate with ease.

About QUBE

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About the Contributions.

EurekaBlog (2021-05-20 21:21:01)

Note (kevin_milner) 18:40 Today             Be clear on why – be courageous.

Note (christina porterf) 18:40 Today       Reduce the barriers [lower the cost of good network connectivity].

Note (nicky newton) 18:40 Today             It's OK to try something new and not be fearful of failure – adopt the approach of us all being in this together.

Note (david lamy) 18:39 Today  Transformation projects will take into account pandemic-like risks.

Note (kevin_milner) 18:39 Today             Leadership models will have to evolve.

Note (lanyard_myakayaka) 18:38 Today People will split into those who are emotionally-connected with family now and those who aren't.

Note (nicky newton) 18:38 Today             Stop having fun and learn & grow from others.

Note (kevin_milner) 18:38 Today             Look at trailblazers for inspiration.

Note (david lamy) 18:38 TodaY                  Corporate travel will reduce drastically.

Note (adrian malone) 18:38 Today           We all need to learn new ways to connect and collaborate.

Note (lanyard_myakayaka) 18:38 Today Work and location are decoupled – so it will be impossible to collect income tax.

Note (sarah bunting) 18:38 Today            Not achieving the best results.

Note (christina porterf) 18:38 Today       Embrace new opportunities – get out of your own head.

Note (adrian malone) 18:38 Today           Missing out on diversity of people and thoughts.

Note (kevin_milner) 18:38 Today             Need to be creative – global cultures.

Note (sarah bunting) 18:37 Today            Find new ways to connect with people.

Note (kevin_milner) 18:37 Today             Digital Transformation is no longer a “nice to have”.

Note (nicky newton) 18:37 Today             Be mischievous (for the good) and try new paths & free thinking.

Note (hw steisslinger) 18:37 Today          Listen deeply to other people s ideas, suspend judgement … and always try to understand the deeper meaning iof what others say ....

Note (adrian malone) 18:37 Today           Collaboration not co-location builds relationships!

Note (sarah bunting) 18:37 Today            Be bold and try something different.

Note (kevin_milner) 18:37 Today             Only companies that can manage this new world will thrive

Note (christina porterf) 18:37 Today       Treating “common” as normal.

Note (kevin_milner) 18:36 Today             Relying on old routines is not the way forward.

Note (sarah bunting) 18:36 Today            Missed opportunities if not willing to embrace change.

Note (christina porterf) 18:36 Today       People don't like new rules [C-19 precautions].

Note (nicky newton) 18:36 Today             There is no normal.

Note (adrian malone) 18:36 Today           Not sustainable, we are killing ourselves and the planet!

Note (sarah bunting) 18:35 Today            Doing things differently can create better relationships and more efficient ways of working.

Note (david lamy) 18:35 Today                  Covid will not change everything.

Note (kevin_milner) 18:35 Today             We need to do things differently.

Note (adrian malone) 18:35 Today           People travelling all the time, trains and roads full.

Note (christina porterf) 18:35 Today       How easily misinformation can spread.

Note (craig harper) 18:35 Today               Working from home will become a preferred option for many people.

Note (nicky newton) 18:35 Today             The 9-5 ways of working have gone.

Note (adrian malone) 18:35 Today           You have to meet face to face to do serious work.

Note (sarah bunting) 18:34 Today            People don't like change.

Note (kevin_milner) 18:34 Today             Travelling for Business Makes you important!

Note (craig harper) 18:34 Today               The New Normal is anything but ...

Note (sarah bunting) 18:34 Today            How much people love to travel?

This blogpost also used additional notes gathered using the EvolveDominateOrDie PET and topic commenters.