Pause or Pace, Bored or Busy, Hungry or Overfed - The parallel universe of COVID the great "un-equaliser".
Benjamin Trinh
Investing & Consulting: Through Coll Group | Philanthropy: Through the Wattle Charitable Foundation
PARALLEL UNIVERSE
I was chatting with a friend the other night having a "virtual drink" as has become customary. He asked me how my week was... I said... well probably the busiest and most frustrating of my life with a chuckle. To which he responded with a confused tone... really? I asked how he'd been and he replied with an analogy - "If the tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? Well if I lived a day and accomplished nothing... did I really live?" -We both laugh.
It occurred to me although we're both in the same city we are living oppositional lives. Parallel universes.
Concurrently this morning I awoke to a deeply confronting article in the New York Times: ‘Instead of Coronavirus, the Hunger Will Kill Us.’ A Global Food Crisis Looms.
I was challenged... moved and frankly uncomfortable. Is this who we want to be? A world with such wealth and social disparity that nearly 300 million people won't be able to get food, literally starving to death while the other billions of people can sit in couches and worry about what Netflix show they should watch next? Are we okay with the the uncomfortable truth that we have built our comfort off the backs of the hurt of millions? Or to make it more personal... am I okay with this?
In a recent report by McKinsey they invite business leaders to use the event not simply "return" but to "re-imagine and reform". It caused me to pause in my cadence.
The Great "Un-equaliser"
It's been dubbed the great "equaliser" but although sickness does not discriminate, and we are all "equal" in the sense of our ignorance of the situation, but certainly our experience of the lock down is far from "equal". What it has done is reveal the awkward and uncomfortable polarisations of the world we have created. Before my right wing friends sign off, my point is not to advocate a hard line on right or wrong, in fact the current systems arguably has produced far better outcomes that anything humanity has presented previously. My goal though is not to be content with the status quo but to encourage all of us to lean into some intellectually honest questions and discuss:
- Is the world as we want it to be? If so, and it truly is the best we can then fine. But rather then double down on capitalism as we have known it, is this an opportunity for re-imagination and reform (to use McKinsey & Co's words)
- Can we do better?
Tooth, Mirror and Food
In reflection, the current revealing power of the great 2020 lock down I liken to the awkward moment when your friend points out "you have something in your teeth". You have a choice to respond in 3 ways:
- Believe them and do nothing,
- Believe them and leave to the bathroom and clean your teeth,
- Don't believe them and continue on.
But what you cannot do is simply forget what you heard. The Great Lock Down of 2020 has been our hypothetical friend, point out our proverbial food in our teeth, how will we respond?
On this topic I have no advice or insight, but simply a moment of revealing honesty and internal conflict. A sliver of me wants to return back to the world I know, one I can understand and control, but I can't help but feel that to do that would not be an option. It would be to forget what I have already seen, and continue on without intellectual integrity. I can't help but feel that to return to the old normal would be to waste a once in a 100 year opportunity to reimagine and reform our society for the better. Not to upend it, certainly what was built is better than many before or alternatives previous prevented, but what is a middle ground?
What I can Control...
I'm a natural dreamer, and my thought bend toward wider revolution and upheaval! But tearing down to build back up is seldom the reasonable path. Not everything was broken. I am also at this moment in time not positioned to bring about that change, I am neither a thought leader or a person in government, I would hope those who fate has adhorned this responsibility and opportunity will wrestle with ideas of reimagine and reform.
For me I am a father with 2 soon to be 3 kids and the CEO of one company with a few hundred employees. Small in the scheme of things, but macro change starts with micro. Every small business and family member has the opportunity to influence a few in light of our "food in tooth" moment.
What is everyone doing? What are some Ideas? I'd love to hear and receive some inspiration on some innovations that have already taken place in light of the great lock down of 2020 to reform the future.
Managing Director, activIT systems
4 年Hi Ben. Somewhere near the start of March, about 2 days before we became unbelievably busy at work, busiest and most stressful time ever - 3x average daily job ticket volume for 4 weeks, everyone working mental hours amongst a huge period of uncertainty- mentally ran through what it would look and feel like to have to layoff staff and potentially close up business if FORCED to close. Up until then there had just been increasing uncertainty. This was my watershed moment where instead of continuing down this negative path full of thoughts that didn't have any action associated, I had a mental shift into growth mindset and galvanised the team a day or two later. It was an emotional 50 minute meeting from me and I laid it all out for everyone to see. I was able to provide clear direction and confident decisions, simple action, and a few goals for us to aim for. Our mission was (still is) to do everything we can to help our clients stay in business and keep their staff productive under whatever circumstance may arise, whether it be they stay the course or we help them pivot, cause they, all their staff, and their loved ones would be counting on OUR technical and business capacities to help them get though. ... continued..
COO at Life Ready Health Group.
4 年Beautifully written!