Memories run short. Not so long ago, the larger-than-life Covid pandemic took the world by storm, dared to defy norms like never before, forcing both companies and employees to view life and business from a different lens. A zoomed-out lens, that slowly but surely morphed the world into a new normal, distilling what is ultimately meaningful.
A new normal where the world shrunk yet expanded and the looming climate crisis took on an exponential urgency for action. With unprecedented acceleration and acceptance of digital technologies, partial remote working became the new norm. On one hand blurring the lines between work and home, and on the other, giving way to a more open, holistic, and healthy dialogue. Business resilience became the talk of the town, the roots of which were being questioned, evaluated, analyzed from all aspects. And reframed.
Gradually, a new corporate culture emerged, where employee health and welfare and team collaboration took centerstage. There was heightened consciousness in the workforce on motivations for staying with or joining a new employer. An employer with strong values and a clear vision, an open and mindful culture and a business thrust beyond profit, towards social and environmental responsibility.
Is there a hidden gem of opportunity amidst these layers of flux and change?
Should we pause just a bit longer and reflect just a bit deeper on fostering a work culture that auto-embeds business resilience. A culture that will organically enhance the quotient of an organization to embrace and adapt to change.
What if the new ‘business-as-usual’ worked towards lifelines and not deadlines? What if impediments created by ‘but’ were flipped with the possibilities opened by ‘yes and’ and ‘how might we’? What if ‘she’ was as prevalent as ‘he’ to build a strong well-balanced work ethos? What if we thanked more and complained less?
What if we provoked new thought and triggered new pathways with explorative openings of ‘what if’ and ‘I wonder’ vs a static critique of ‘what might have been’? How might this ‘feedforward’ vs ‘feedback’ culture become the norm, where all march to this positive drumbeat to create a healthy virtuous cycle of building confidence and encouragement? And how might we shift our focus from ‘not done’ to ‘not done yet’, that offers a powerful window of intention and opportunity.
Practicing these simple rituals and routines over time, our brains would be collectively (re)wired to see possibilities in challenges, opportunities in constraints and innovation backed by informed risk-taking with unknowns. This unique DNA, if strategically focused on and consciously developed by organizations, will be the bedrock for making businesses more resilient – to weather bigger storms, to seize unseen opportunities and to boldly step into an uncertain future.
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