It’s been more than a year now since we’ve been living life in the COVID-19 pandemic. The end is uncertain and the implications for the future are far from clear.
McKinsey reports that 75% of U.S. employees and close to a third in the Asia–Pacific region report symptoms of burnout. European nations are reporting increasing levels of pandemic fatigue. The number of those who rate their mental health as “very poor” is more than three times higher than before the crisis. Such figures should get our attention, but do they?
Perhaps the most dangerous part of the coronavirus is its divisiveness. Many times, a crisis brings us together to slay the dragon. But the pandemic has driven us apart. Who would have thought life could take such a painful turn?
Overnight, workers were told to work from home. Not only did they do it, they liked it. Now many are ready to refuse to go back. To express their pleasure of working from home, they remodeled their bedrooms, kitchens and basements, purchased all sorts of digital devices and office equipment and didn’t miss a beat.
They’re choosey, too. “You want me in the office? I don’t think so.” Some moved to the middle of nowhere. They donned their sweats, popped open a laptop, jumped on virtual meetings and went to work in their new $999 office chair or decided to stay in bed and make it their office that day. To the utter surprise to everyone, productivity went up.
The genie is out of the bottle.
That’s just the first chapter. McKinsey also notes, “There is a veritable flood of new small businesses. In the third quarter of 2020 alone, there were more than 1.5 million new-business applications in the U.S. – almost double the figure for the same period in 2019.” That’s not all. Apple Inc. reported its highest revenue in its history in the fourth quarter, and the company wasn’t alone.
All this adds up to an amazing, yet counterintuitive, story. But what does it mean to all of us who must live it? What in the world is going on? Even more to the point, what’s the message about the future? Here are four thoughts:
The genie is out of the bottle. Like no other phenomenon in modern history, the pandemic released a level of momentum sufficient to turn the world upside down. It may also be the catalyst that changes everything, from politics, public policy, health and medicine, education, work-life balance, business, entertainment, culture, industry, science and government.
Far more people have seats at the table. We talked for so long, but nothing changed. Then suddenly, we became keenly aware of those who had long been invisible to us. We raised our hands and called them “heroes” but never raised their wages. We’ve finally figured out that when everyone has a seat, we have better health care, better jobs, stronger families and happier communities. Could it possibly be that it took a painful pandemic to make more room at the table?
Everything is under a microscope. Counterintuitive but true, the number of applications for fall 2021 at the University of California are breaking all records. It’s happening at the same moment when millions of young Americans are questioning the value of a college education. Those who went before them, the millennials, are dogged in determining their own way in the world. Don’t be surprised. The lens of the microscope may never rest.
Don’t drink the Kool-Aid. There are dangers in tension-filled, stressful times. Someone has aptly described it as “hitting the pandemic wall.” That’s when we reach out for relief, trying to get our lives on a better path. Simple, quick and easy answers are what sell in turbulent times – “Buy this or do that and your problems vanish and your dreams come true.” We’re too resilient to let us do that to ourselves.
John Graham of GrahamComm is a marketing and sales-strategy consultant and business writer. Contact him at jgraham@grahamcomm.com.
