“When things get back to normal, we will …”
Sorry to disappoint you – things won’t be going back to normal. They can’t. We have changed, our organisations have changed, the world has changed.
There will be a ‘normal’, but we won’t be going ‘back’ to it. It will be a New Normal.
Old Normal was pre COVID: we ‘went’ to work (together), kids went to school, we didn’t carry sanitizer, toilet paper was nothing special. Old Normal has ended.
We are in Current Normal now. #WFH, Zoom meetings, focus on critical service delivery, some stuff on hold… After an initial week or two of panic, we have worked out how to do Current Normal, and while many of us are optimizing this, we know it’s a temporary state.
New Normal is where things get really interesting, because this is where we get to choose!
Default New Normal – not the same as Old Normal – is the way of working, living and being that we will develop gradually, a normal that indiscriminately picks up behaviours, beliefs and practices from the past and present and merges them to build a default approach to work and community.
Both aspirational and achievable, Created New Normal is what we choose. Taking the best of Old and Current Normal, and we can create practices and organisations that we want to live and lead in.
3 Simple Questions
Simple to ask… Not too hard to answer… The tricky bit is having the commitment to implement.
These questions will get you thinking, generate conversation in your team, and set the framework for a leadership team discussion:
- What have you lost that was valuable? (Old Normal)
- What have you gained? (Current Normal)
- How can you ensure have both in your Created New Normal?
Of course, these questions apply equally to our personal lives too! (When I heard the news of easing restrictions in Victoria, I felt a sense of loss in my personal life as my family has been fortunate to gain much from the past 8 weeks.)
Bill Gates has claimed that COVID-19 is a ‘Once-in-a-Century Pandemic’. What if, despite all the difficulties it’s created (or perhaps because of them), COVID-19 was also a ‘Once-in-a-Century Opportunity’ for significant positive change?
What mindset do you need to embrace to seize that opportunity and create your own new normal? If there was ever a time for Fearless Leadership® it’s now.
Don’t settle for a default New Normal. Create your own New Normal.
Go Fearlessly
PS In writing this blog, I am very conscious of all those people who have been significantly negatively impacted by this Coronavirus, perhaps through the loss of their loved ones, their own health, their businesses and/or jobs… So while this situation may offer a potential upside for many, it has been very tough for others too.
STAY IN THE LOOP
