Want to transform (this) crisis into opportunity?

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Want to transform (this) crisis into opportunity?

You need to know this

"Five years this upgrade has been in planning, and we got it done over the weekend!”
Senior Manager, Water sector

There has been a spectacular burst of creativity, innovation and engagement responding to COVID-19. Not saying it’s been easy and the burden has been very unevenly distributed but objectively a great deal has been accomplished in a very short time - and most of it is new!

Many of you have been pulling for a more human, engaged, compassionate and interactive organisational culture all your working lives. From that perspective, we are currently facing an opportunity like no other ... so... what’s it going to take to capitalise on it?

Increasingly people are starting to ask “what’s next”? What's the new normal we want? Let's take charge of this process and decide which bits of the enterprise do we want to take forward and what bits have been bypassed, ignored or transformed we don’t want to see creep back in?

I’m letting people book individual or group conversations about this topic for a couple of weeks. Click HERE to finds a time that works for us both.

Photo by Nguyen Minh on Unsplash

There is a well-worn and predictable path in the recovery journey

This is NOT NEW TERRITORY.

Collectively we’ve a great deal experience about what expect and how to make the most of the recovery process. This piece by the National Recovery Advisor to Red Cross Kate Brady is fascinating because it shows just how much we’ve managed these processes in the past.

I’ve written previously about what our experience with emergency management after disasters can teach us (SEE HERE), but what I know is that:

the moment people start to say “I’m getting used to this” or “we can handle this” that pesky-past will come swinging in like a sledge-hammer. If we want to make the most of this opportunity we need to start that conversation now!

As a wonderful friend of mine and guru of recovery, Anne Leadbeater OA says

Recovery starts before the emergency

We have already taken the first steps in defining what the ‘new normal’ will be (CLICK HERE for a wonderful conversation I recently had with Anne about organisational recovery).

Let’s make sure the next few steps are deliberate!

Both perspectives are valid and both have value. Until now, the dominant metaphor that has underpinned the imagination and construction of organisations has been the mechanical one but the dominant organisational paradigm of the future will be an organic one.

You need only look at the leadership styles of the Australian Prime Minister and his compatriot in New Zealand to see how these two different perspectives play out. Both valid, both driven by a real concern for others, but Jacinda Arden’s communication builds trust and Morison’s doesn’t.

The shift from a mechanistic view of enterprises to an organic one is probably inevitable, but COVID-19 has given this process a real kick-in-the-pants. If facilitating this shift is your thing, I invite you to start using these metaphors to explain the transition, and start consciously recreating your organisation before ‘the past’ takes back over…

If you want to follow this up, I’m offering to present for free what I provided at the #vid19 conference for individuals or small groups. You can find a time that works for you and I HERE.