Too little, too late ... maybe not.

Too little, too late.

A day late and a dollar short.

These sentiments are becoming all too common in response to efforts undertaken by governments and health authorities regarding measures and initiatives implemented to gain the upper hand on the COVID-19 crisis and other pressing issues.

While the sentiment can be understood because of disappointing outcomes and relative ineffectiveness in stemming the tide of the pandemic, it is also rhetoric that can be hugely detrimental to progress and advancement.

Perhaps it is time to rethink and redirect our energies toward a more united front; a more collective and inclusive approach that will be in our better interest in moving forward.

Pointing out that a course of action has been “too little too late” can be perceived as viewing the situation through a condemnation lens; a condemnation of the actions and a condemnation of the creator/perpetrator of the actions. Condemning serves to discount and demean effort. It can assume ill-intention. It passes negative judgement and discards any potential value (the proverbial “throwing the baby out with the bathwater”). It can alienate and deepen divides. It can lead to a stalemate and stall any progress, perhaps even fuel regression.

Now is the time to pivot and move beyond “too little too late” thinking.  It is time to shift from a condemnation perspective to a learning and continuation perspective. Viewing the situation through this lens, we can focus on taking the best of “what is” forward and leverage these learnings to generate more creative and effective alternative approaches. A continuation perspective honours intentions and past efforts. It builds upon where we are / where we have come from to motivate and propel us to keep moving forward. It can bring us together and unleash the power of diversity of thought and the wisdom of the crowd.

Initially, COVID-19 was called the novel coronavirus (nCoV) because it was a new strain that had not been previously identified in humans. Consequently, it presented a new challenge and there was no real roadmap to follow. Great innovation, in both business and society, over human history has similarly emerged to address “novel” situations with no roadmap to follow. 

Consider Thomas Edison and his perfection of the electric lightbulb. His journey, with multiple failed efforts, could have easily been derailed by the condemnation lens of too little too late – or perhaps the related sentiment of “a day late and a dollar short”.  

Fortunately his persistence was aligned to the continuation perspective and an attitude that each failed attempt was merely a step in the creative process to reach the end goal. He has been quoted as saying “I have not failed 10000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work I will find the way that will work.”

If we do not pivot our energies in responding to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic from condemnation to seeing “failures” as an invitation to continue the pursuit of another way, we may well remain in the dark for far longer than necessary.

Too little too late. Maybe…

More importantly, continuing to address the challenges we face with COVID-19 is too important to ignore.