Why are we still talking about "Returning to a New Normal"???

We have been using the wrong language – we should not be “Returning to the New Normal” that unto itself makes no sense. You can’t return to something new – to return is going BACK to what once was.

The dictionary states:

“Return” –is “an act of coming or going back to a place or activity”.

“Rebuild” –is “to build (something) again after it has been damaged or destroyed.

March 2020 quite literally damaged & destroyed life as we knew it. EVERY. SINGLE. ASPECT of life. Personal life, Work life, School life – you name it every part of life, every sector, every industry was & has been damaged and, in some respects, destroyed.

?As I sit in silence this morning with hot coffee, bare feet, pants without zippers reveling in my 3 min commute I ponder why so many want to “return” to what once was, and I keep asking myself WHY?

WHY do we want to “return”?? I for one certainly do NOT want to return to life as it once was where I was running on empty; emotionally, physically, mentally. Full of anxiety over the dreaded afterschool pick up or sick call from the school nurse in a critical meeting. Pretending that I was happy with arduous commutes designed to suck the literal life out of my soul. Pretending that to be productive & efficient I needed to sit for 8+ hours a day in a workstation (what I now call a prison cell).

To be fair, I am NOT the same human being I on 3/13/2020. I am a rebuilt version of that human. I have gained almost 15+ hours a week (as well as 15lbs) or 2 whole days by not commuting. I have forged & grown my personal & professional network in ways nationally simply unheard of and not previously possible; all from the comfort & security of my home. I have learned new ways of working. I have learned how to maintain productivity and support my family, my students, my clients and my coworkers. I have simply adapted and rebuilt myself. How do I go back then to an old version that was arguably less productive, much more unhealthy and full of anxiety?

I am not suggesting that the office environment has no relevance, quite the opposite but I wonder if we have been using the wrong language. We keep saying “Return” but I think we need to start saying “Rebuild” when we talk about what is next.

We need to rebuild our framework & understanding of how we work, how organizations are structured & how the office can be rebuilt (figuratively or literally) to support this new framework. Begin to ask ourselves based on what has been damaged and what we have learned how can we rebuild our offices and organizations to support this new construct?

We need to rebuild our views on employee productivity & accountability – it’s no longer equivalent to a certain number of hours in a seat anymore. Simply physically putting eyes on an employee or seeing them sitting in their workstations does not automatically mean they are happy and productive.

We need to rebuild our belief systems around management, mentorship, & leadership. While physical proximity to others is important is it no longer the ONLY way to provide these services. You can mentor, manage and lead without direct physical proximity - it is possible, it just takes a different mindset.

We need to rebuild a new normal with the understanding that flexibility & trust are the foundation of it all.

When so much was broken before March 2020 & further damaged after that; why would anyone want to “Return” to what once was? Why not “Rebuild” something new???

They say necessity is the mother of invention (and innovation) and a crisis certainly qualifies as a precursor to necessity. A crisis demands a response - often that response mandates innovation and invention. Since a crisis is often temporary many of the adaptations created are utilized to rebuild what the crisis damaged.

We can rebuild, we should rebuild - to return is simply a tragedy on so many levels. We can take what we have all learned and build something incredible - take the lessons learned to provide a new normal that is unlike anything we have seen before.