The Secret to Crushing this COVID-19 Pandemic - A New Definition of Crushing It

#COVIDSolutions #COVID19Innovation #OpenSchools #EdTech

That image above is not a guy sanitizing a room with an electrostatic COVID-19 sterilization gun, that's an FDLE issued gun about to be pointed at Rebekah D. Jones and her kids. She's being referred to as Ms. Jones, but this is a Ph.D of Philosophy, Geography, a Master's Degree in Geography, Cum Laude, and a BA in Geography, Newspaper and Online Journalism, Cum Laude. I'm not going to get pulled into opinions about this situation of Dr. Jones' arrest for her misuse of confidential data, I intend to use this as an opportunity to share the secret to crushing this COVID-19 pandemic via visionary leadership.

Bad leadership has a tendency of crushing the magic in the room and getting the outcome the leader fears most, total failure. This is obviously a smart woman who likely knows what she's doing, and considering her undergrad degree in Journalism, she likely provoked the situation knowing it would put her, and this issue of misinformation, on center stage.

All this "noise" circling around the COVID-19 pandemic, doesn't seem to be helping us. Community leaders and government administrators in chaos, without a plan, and business leaders panicking to stay afloat instead of creating a protocol and taking the best choice of "public safety" actions to conquer the spread sooner than later isn't helping either.

Ironically, some of the best crisis leadership decisions are driven by four major factors:

1. Knowing your data, and making well-informed data-driven decisions, while also defining and researching key indicators in the field, (while also respecting lagging indicators). For instance, observing the activity of active cases in a hospital and pairing it with lagging data indicators can increase data reliability and better decision making.
2. Egos aside: Having a proven track record of success, or identifying the best relevant proven success story after which to model your behaviors. With unprecedented situations, this often involves innovating new approaches and continuously honing it, while-in-action, for best outcomes. There's no room for getting "stuck in our ways".
3. Painting a clear vision and goals of your plan - making it exciting, a passion-fueled deployment so everyone is able to sign on and do their part.
4. Knowing your own strengths/weaknesses and the strengths of your teams, and deploying each team with clarity, positive spirit, and good faith, all with a common and exciting goal. (Also, abiding by a revised protocol is often required when deploying tactics that chase different and better outcomes).

The interesting "human dynamics" element to this situation is that the "victim" created a scenario around herself and her family, by waiting 22 minutes to answer the door when the FDLE came knocking to arrest her. Each of us can show-and-tell a story that is very real to the public. Everyone has a very real version of their own reality and often do all they can to make sure their reality becomes the result. Ethics are challenged, especially in times of crisis. We need to deploy as a collective, open our minds and exercise the best decision making without hidden agendas or self-interest or egos in the way.

Okay, so we're learning people are fallible and numbers CAN lie. I do believe we all share a common goal of defeating this COVID-19 pandemic before it completely crushes our economy and civilization as a whole. It seems to me we should be seeking out the best total-solution from the best and brightest innovators in the field.

How do we get our schools re-opened safely?

How do we save and re-open businesses safely?

How do we best protect our essential workers and our population as a whole?

How do we get this accomplished in the swiftest and most cost-effective fashion, and make choices that stay relevant, that scale, and help us define a different and better future for us all?

My answer to possible first-steps to protecting our population from contamination and cross-contamination is robotics. Autonomous is a big word in navigation these days.

1. Autonomous robots can pre-treat rooms before a human enters, and treat a room after humans leave. It seems robotics is something we can safely rally behind in our quest to halt the spread of COVID-19.
2. Technology that can sense room usage, map treatment plans, and verify treatment data.
3. When you look at the efficacy of technology such as electrostatic spraying that charges particles and helps liquids "magnetically" attach evenly to surfaces, that sounds like a good combination to pair with a robot for more reliable coverage, and for the most efficient use of the treatment liquids.
4. Carefully researching the safest treatment liquids is an essential element to our short-term and long-term population health. It's easy to make a mistake we all pay for later. Hypochlorus Acid, otherwise known as HOCL seems to be the safest and very affordable sterilization liquids out there. It's EPA listed as safe and 100% natural. https://pureandclean.us/hypochlorous-acid/ If you are spraying or wiping your surfaces to combat the dangers of COVID-19 and everything else that might be lingering on your surfaces, it seems you can't go wrong with HOCL.
5. We need a system that people can be exposed to without danger, and it seems LG is on the right track. Their affordable, autonomous sterilization robot, CLOi, can even protect janitors, housekeepers, and other cleaning specialists putting their lives on the line to protect our health and safety. I'm a big fan of the efficacy of UV in killing germs, viruses (including COVID-19), and many pathogens, spores, and more. UV is not perfect, but it works well, it only requires electricity for its charging station, it is a sanitization method trusted by hospitals. UV is under-marketed and it is surprisingly fast, affordable, and uncomplicated.

Enjoy a safe and healthy 2021 - and beyond.

Erika Feinberg, MA Human Dynamics