The Next Wave of Change Makers
The new world calls for refined thinking, sometimes even abandoning matters which you hold dear.
The post-COVID world is forever different, in fact could be as significant as the Industrial Revolution. We are never going to stop creating new things; we would still engage with new technologies; we will still be focused on problems to solve. But let’s not forget, we can still flourish in the new world, just as we did in the old. There’s still a bounty of possibilities, and an open sky to paint our ambitions. We do not need to settle for the mediocre, we can thrive and We will Thrive.
The black swan events such as global recessions and pandemics have a path changing impact on the governments, economies and businesses — altering the course of history. When I visited the Grand Canyons for the first time, I was in awe and wonder as to understand the impact of water rushing off the Rockies that formed the mighty Colorado River. As the plateau rose, the river cut into it, carving the canyon over time making it one of among the top seven natural wonders of the world.
The Black Death in the 13th Century AD contributed to the dissolution of the feudal system in Europe and placed us on the road to a modern employment contract. In the 16th Century, a deep recession post the one-hundred year war between England and France, helped kickstart a major innovation drive radically improving industrial and agricultural productivity.
Fast-forward, Alibaba’s meteoric growth was the product of the SARS pandemic in 2002–04. Most of us may remember the financial subprime crisis of 2008, which produced the sharing economies of Airbnb and Uber; exacerbated by inadequacy of personal savings and income concerns among the masses, forcing people to share rooms and car rides to cover or curtail the deficit. This massive shift was retrospective something which we could not have even imagined — sharing our homes and cab with strangers prior to this crisis.
With COVID-19, we are in the precipice of a massive shift — akin to being referred as a tip of the iceberg. Remote working, for instance has been accepted as primary by technology and non-technology companies alike; something which was considered a taboo and being ineffective or non-compliant pre-COVID. In the new normal, as it stands today it would be difficult to predict what will resonate tomorrow, however business leaders and young minds are taking note and these are bound to create long-term digital disruption that will shape business for decades to come.
In the scientific literature Origin of Species, Charles Darwin mentions that “It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself”. The change makers and the adopters will stay ahead of these massive shifts and anticipate these effects. Here are some areas that would be impacted
Global Talent Management would trump local — Once we are on the other side of this crisis, remote work will become the new normal. In fact, the benefits are going to be so massive that competitiveness would be defined by how well you manage global talent. Talent utilization, employee morale and mental health will have to be given a lot of attention by business leaders to be competitive. A new talent management playbook studying the remote-first companies such as GitHub and Automattic which empowers employees to be more productive driving key prioritizations; being fair in reviews and promoting the right people.
Supply Chain Quality and Sustenance will rise— When China sneezed, the world caught a serious pathogen and it knocked out the variety of goods and services worldwide. For a long time the global supply chains have been acutely dependent on China; the quality has stayed relatively flat, while the attempt has been the drive lower costs. This shift will be a catalyst for supply chains to merge into a mesh framework; with business continuity plans being spread across multiple countries — towards avoiding a single point of failure.
Business leaders will be required to reimagine their sustenance strategy and ensure that it’s tested, balanced and effective. Your network, industry peers, vendors and key customers will be playing a key role in forming these micro-ecosystems. This resiliency and efficiency across your supply chain would define your growth in the next phase of growth.
Bureaucracy will be challenged — The fundamental role of the government is the safety and security of its citizenry. China propelled to create a 645,000 square foot hospital in a record 10 days in Wuhan. South Korea even being a democracy, catapulted rapid testing of more than 200,000 of its citizens and used smartphones to contact trace the movement of the infected.
Rapid decision making and aggressive investment in digitization will create incredible opportunities for new businesses and talent. Cross border trades, approvals and tracking will be more regimented and structured; unlike a government that is suffering from a long period of neglect. Alternatives to continue the deregulatory trend and effectively collaborate the private sector will proven to be more resilient and flexible than the government. The private sector has shown to be far better at delivering solutions during this crisis.
Local data-centers’ will fade — Many financial institutions, governments and unemployment insurance systems still run on dilapidated mainframe systems that are 40 plus years old requiring a programming language COBOL which is a dying technology. The Federal, State and Counties have long compartmentalized their systems constantly spending precious tax resources over upgrading hardware, licenses and redundant staffing. Cloud transformation will not only provide firms with capabilities to recover from the crisis more quickly, it will serve as strategic lever, allowing business leaders to rethink priorities and resource allocation.
The cloud can no longer be considered simply as an infrastructure, but a strategic advantage which helps to amortize otherwise capital expenses, leverage the cloud fabric towards strategic technology advantage for horizontal scale, resilience, security and sustainability. This requires serious leaders to drive these initiatives within these sectors.
We will be witnessing a blend of these change makers — some from the old guard and numerous new startups with an expounding mindset and broader outlook take up leadership in the new economy.
I could not be more excited about What’s Next. We will Thrive and We will emerge Stronger!
