A Tool For Assessing "The New Normal"

As we begin to look ahead past the immediate health emergency, we may find that in our professional and private lives it may help to think about the impact of the virus on a grid. Short vs. long-term impact on one axis, small vs. large effects on the other. In times like these, where the future feels uncertain, this can help make sense of how much or how little our lives are being transformed.

 As one small example: I think about one impact from 9/11 that still influences me 19 years later. As someone who uses public transportation, if I’m getting ready to go into Manhattan in the morning and I have to wear a suit, I usually opt for nice looking soft-soled shoes rather than wearing my best leather-soled shoes. The thought being: if I’m at Penn Station and something happens, can I move quickly enough in the shoes I’m wearing? Can I get to somebody in need? Can I intercede in the event of an emergency? I don’t want to worry about maintain my grip on the floor with a pair of fancy shoes. The impact on my thinking has been long-term, though the importance/impact of shoes is relatively low.

 Today, I think about my close relationships. My son, James, came over to pick up something the other day and he brought along his son, Kurt. It happened to be Kurt’s second birthday. Obviously, the party was cancelled but it was so good to see him. When I opened the back door, Kurt, 30 feet away, yelled “Papa!” and started waiving. I wonder what Kurt was thinking when grandma and Papa didn’t rush over as they normally would to give him a hug. Hopefully, these changes are short-term – but who knows what effects may linger.

 Or take the education sector. As my friends Heather Hartnett and Gil Messer pointed out at a breakfast event just as this crisis was coming into view: does this change how we value college now? If you’re paying full-price for an on-campus experience, does the value of that diminish as you now are moved to online courses? Will this give a boost to online universities like Sebastian Thrun’s Udacity? Again, hard to predict.