Why It’s Time To Get Going, Instead Of Waiting Out The Storm

They say patience is a virtue … but in life, especially in business, waiting isn’t always the best course of action. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage throughout the world, so many of us feel like we’re in limbo—in a state of “hurry up and wait”—and while we need to respect government guidance around health and safety measures, we should be making all the moves we can to get back to business in ways that aren’t always physical.

Based in Hong Kong, I’ve been living and working under necessary restrictions due to the pandemic since late January. As you can imagine, this has resulted in a number of pauses and more recently reminded me of a memorable section of one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, “Oh the Places You’ll Go!”

“For people just waiting…waiting for a train to go

Or a bus to come, or a plane to go

Or the mail to come, or the rain to go

Or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow

Or waiting around for a Yes or No

Or waiting for their hair to grow.

 “Everyone is just waiting.

 “Waiting for the fish to bite

Or waiting for wind to fly a kite

Or waiting around for Friday night

Or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake

Or a pot to boil, or a Better Break

Or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants

Or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.

 “Everyone is just waiting.”

Exiting the Waiting Room

We all have to escape “this waiting place” where the unknown looms large and fear grips us all. This is important in our private lives as well as in business.

In our home life, these past months have been a time to explore lessons with our kids on how to savor and celebrate the present moment, as well as how to be curious and learn beyond the online curriculum provided by schools. We’ve been striving to make the most of this moment (not always successfully—but we’re trying) and not spending our time waiting for school to start, or playdates to resume, or sports to be organized again.

These lessons should be heeded in business circles, too. Business leaders ought not to be hanging out in “the waiting place” too long. It would be very easy—and accurate—to say right now that we can’t tell the future, so let’s wait and see where we are on the other side of this thing. I know I’m not the only one who has heard numerous variations on the topic of waiting: “We’re waiting until we have more visibility.” “We’re waiting until the situation is clearer.” “We’re waiting until we have more information.”

But we’re at a point where waiting is no help. Rather than waiting, we would be better served by assessing what we do know and building smart, new approaches that propel us forward.

Make no mistake, there’s a lot we do know: We know that it’s not likely we will be returning exactly to previous ways of working. We know that many jobs can now function across flexible hours, allowing individuals and families to schedule their work days around life (versus the other way around). We know that digital is a new lifeline. We know that consumer confidence is low and their behavior, purchasing patterns, and attitudes have changed (and will likely change further). We know that the pandemic has put a squeeze on consumers’ wallets and companies’ bottom lines, as well. And we know that trying to achieve goals you wrote into your business plans in November 2019 is next to impossible.

In light of all that we know, we should be getting on with business. What is the optimal way to do that? In uncertain times, I believe the best way is to ideate. Strategies come from ideas. As an added bonus, thinking is a perfect antidote to waiting. And another bonus: It is absolutely true that important and valuable ideas can come from anyone at a company, not just the top people. So encouraging the generation of ideas is a great way to engage people from all levels in the company’s growth—or recovery.

In his book “The Art of the Idea,” John Hunt writes: Most people and companies have a vast reservoir of fresh thinkers all around them. But … they choose to believe that we are not all equal before the idea. They don’t understand that new perspectives can come from anywhere.” He says we must “disband the politburo and declare an idea democracy.”

Unleashing the power of ideas in an organization is a great antidote for anxiety. Those ideas can serve consumers, employees, communities, and importantly companies’ businesses, which in turn supports the global economy and society at large. In Asia, where I live and work, we’re looking at a new normal that will likely include more regionalism, an evolved relationship between business and government, and an emphasis on resiliency. New ideas are certainly called for to adapt to these new circumstances.

Of course, ideating in yesteryear had an entirely different meaning/reason/driver than it does today. Now we also need ideas on how to: protect what we have left, grow in an entirely new business environment, adapt our pre-COVID-19 planning to the new reality, make painful decisions like “let’s ditch all of our previous assumptions about our industry, the ways we work, our revenue goals, et al.” 

Regardless, in both the personal and professional, we will never get back these days spent in quarantine and social distancing, so we should make sure we’re not sitting in a perpetual state of limbo and just waiting out the storm. We should, instead, cultivate ideas and innovation to get back in motion.