Fundamentally, too many choices can cripple the decision-making process. But equally nothing is more debilitating than having no choice at all.
The responses to Covid-19 are a case in point. In an era of exaggerated self-entitlement, some people are oscillating between holding out or taking the vaccine, waiting and watch to see how things play out.
Many are privileged enough to sit back and evaluate their preferred options, while there are millions who have no choice except to wait for their governments to tackle this pandemic. It’s a dramatic example of the gap between the haves and have-nots.
Something similar is happening in the business world, too. Some companies find themselves uniquely placed and immune to the economic headwinds compared with other industries and markets, while others are rudely waking up to their impending monetary mortality and scrambling to keep their head above water to survive.
Let’s face it, this is not just one major global crisis. It’s over seven billion crises happening simultaneously across the world – and each person’s pandemic is a different one. Times like these warrant decisiveness, whether its governments, corporations or individuals, and momentum is critical to both staying ahead or staying afloat.
A sense of civic duty
We talk about being responsible citizens, and there’s never been a more delicate time in recent decades for us to consider our actions with an amplified sense of community and compassion.
The“mask off” protests and riots amongst some groups crying foul about freedom is one the most bizarre things I have observed during this pandemic. Wearing a mask helps you and those around you, how can that be hard to comprehend?
A self-confessed civil libertarian friend of mine recently stated that one doesn’t rebel against a red traffic light and say one’s freedom to travel is being impinged upon. This is exactly my point. A mask, like a traffic signal, is an expression of the social contract between people.
Pseudo-intellectual conversations about efficacy levels seem to be the preferred subject matter amongst corporate and social circles, where debates about RNA technology, variants and protein spikes reach evangelistic fervour as people try to make their point.
Taking the vaccine is key to stalling the spread of this contagion, and I repeat, if it’s accessible to you, then you have a civic duty to take the jab.
Taking the vaccine is key to stalling the spread of this contagion
We cannot let anti-vaxxer conspirators and protests create alarm. The global medical fraternity is sharing knowledge, data and collaborating to find a cure, doctors and scientists are working tirelessly to stay one step ahead and modern healthcare is to be celebrated.
We can unthread big-pharma and medical insurance companies another time, but you must agree that every person working in a lab, hospital, clinic or vaccination centre deserves a standing ovation for their remarkable ingenuity, resilience and fortitude.
COVID-19’s contribution to capitalism
Is there a parallel in economics? Well, in my view, we all have to act; trying to preserve the past might very well be a bad idea. It’s time for hard resets, reboots, upgrades, fresh starts. You cannot upcycle the past and, especially if you’re an SME, you have little time to waste.
In reality, that means avoid debt traps, don’t leverage, don’t lose sight of the big picture, focus on generating cash, protecting your teams and keeping morale high.
Look over the fence for inspiration and do what it takes to calibrate what you consider of value. I started 2021 with a “better is more” mandate within my firm as I obsess over quality rather than quantity.
Innovation in many sectors – healthcare, services, e-commerce, logistics, food, tech – will be transformative for society and, as an optimist, I believe a lot of great things will rise once the dust has settled.
Transformation, though, is about synchronising new intentions with new actions. You must stand two metres apart but it’s time to step forward and do whatever is necessary to ensure we don’t make a bad situation worse.
Gaurav Sinha, founder and CEO of Insignia Worldwide
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