Doom and gloom abound, but there has to be hope

If you are one of those people sitting there, thinking life will go back to normal after this pandemic has had its wicked way with us all, you had better snap out of it, because by the looks of things, that is never going to happen.

The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown have completely changed the way we work. Corporates that frowned on working from home are now finding that it is actually viable, and this is leaving an indelible mark on our workplaces.

Nothing will be quite the same after this, whenever "after this" begins. The biggest favour you can do yourself and others as you prepare for whatever comes next is to open your mind and be ready for a completely new reality.

I don’t want to rain on your parade, but many experts believe Covid-19 has forcefully ended the Industrial Era. This means there is a lot at stake for the entire global economy, with severe losses of income, jobs and perhaps even industries that might disappear.

I’ve recently been talking to a whole lot of people, including economists, academics and others whose job it is to look ahead and see the possibilities, be they good or bad.

One of the things that is impossible to predict at this time is obviously when it will be safe to lift the various lockdowns, curfews and other harsh social distancing measures and return to work.

As a result, nobody can say with absolute certainty how sustainable productivity in teams of people suddenly working alone and from home using the Internet and smartphone to connect will last.

This is not just because for many of us, a strong connection between an organisation and its talent is required to enable this, but also because staying connected with Wi-Fi, etc., costs money.

And once companies begin having difficulty paying whatever staff they can keep, because we know mass retrenchments are here or on their way, money will be tight or even exhausted, and so those connections will be impossible.

If I need to spell out what this means, then here it is as told to me by one of the people I interviewed recently: Other Covid-19 shrapnel will include defaults in debt repayments and a subsequent greater risk of employees declaring bankruptcy.

However, it doesn’t have to all be doom and gloom. Humans are generally resilient. And since for me, heroes are those who have managed to pick themselves up, dust themselves down and begin again after a fall, I believe there is a tangible upside at the end of the dark tunnel. 

I really do believe there’s a “comeback kid” in each and every one of us. And if we look hard enough, we can find the resources to get us up again and try a different tack.

The upside is that this time we have is an opportunity for everyone to reinvent themselves from an emotional, spiritual, mental, physical and health perspective. This is the one opportunity window we have to create the best version of ourselves. The trick is to find that opportunity now.