The language we use is changing
In the last 3 months, I have started to notice, and I am sure you have too, that the words we use in business communication are changing. We are using some words a lot more, such as ‘unprecedented’, ‘lockdown’, and ‘pandemic’. But we also seem to have added new words and phrases to our vocabulary including -‘social distancing’, ‘coronavirus’ and even ‘covidiot’.
This month, I changed my email opener from “I hope you are well” to “I hope you are safe and well”. I have started adding to the end of messages expressions like “stay safe” and “stay positive and well”. These words are very simple, heartfelt and easy to understand. But other words have much wider meaning for people and businesses. Let’s take the word “unprecedented” for example. The nature of these “unprecedented” times can be defined by three factors – speed, reach and unexpectedness.
Speed
From the first news about coronavirus up until now, we have barely had 3 months to react and adjust. No other shift in the business world has previously taken such a short time to make a such a profound difference. From the advent of the internet in the early 80s to the dot.com bubble in the late 90s, we had nearly 20 years to react to the way that business will have to change. We have seen that same shift now being attempted in three months. Businesses that are traditionally rooted in the face-to-face services are struggling to re-invent themselves overnight. But the sad truth is that some are not even trying, hoping that this is a temporary glitch and the world will go back to how it was before coronavirus. Unfortunately, we have seen before in history of business, that doing nothing and hoping for the return of the “glory days” is a recipe for disaster. Leaders that innovate fast will be the ones that not only survive but thrive in this new reality.
Reach
Most seismic shifts of the past have affected individual industries – the death of video stores and invention of movie streaming, the global domination of UBER and similar businesses over the taxi business. But a change that spans practically every industry, is something we have not experienced before. The internet and digital revolution had already blurred the borders between countries – you can have an online service hosted from anywhere in the world. What coronavirus has done is to blur the borders between industries as well by forcing traditional businesses to start delivering their services online. What we see now is competition coming from unexpected directions not trying to break the barriers to entry but jumping right over them. In the education industry for example, publishers are opening their archives to be accessible online thus becoming disseminators of knowledge on par with traditional education institutions.
Unexpectedness
What is most shocking for business owners about the coronavirus situation is the fact that it did not feature in any SWOT analysis, strategic business plan or business continuity plan. Even though doctors and celebrities like Bill Gates have been warning us about the possibility of this happening since 2015 when we grappled with Ebola, no one took notice or prepared for this eventuality. A lot of business analysts call this a “black swan” event – an unpredictable, rare and wide-spread event with severe consequences. Neither of the previous epidemics of Ebola, SARS or MERS were as widespread as what we are witnessing now.
Every business that wants to be around next year must look at how to reinvent its business model and how will do things differently in a different world. The companies that will emerge stronger from this trial are the ones that do not play the game purely to survive but have a long-term vision of their purpose and invest now in innovation and their people.
What leaders should consider now, even while we are still in the middle of the darkness and confusion, are these three areas to prepare:
- Prepare to change your mind – in a VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) information is revealed continuously and unexpectedly. What you know and believe today may be completely unfounded tomorrow
- Prepare for the next crisis – collate the knowledge and lessons learned from this crisis to better prepare and react to the next one. This crisis may not be the last one, but the lessons learned are invaluable.
- Prepare for a changed world – those that live and run their businesses with the hope that the world will return to its previous equilibrium may never see that happen. Some shifts in our reality are so profound, that they change our world permanently. I believe this is one of them.
For a Christmas present I gifted each member of my team the book “Who moved my cheese?”. It talks about our human reactions to change. Little did I know how poignant the lessons in that book are for today’s world. Which of the four characters do you mostly resemble?
By Dessy Ohanians, CEO at London Academy of Trading (LAT) and Managing Director of Certificate and Corporate Programmes at London School of Business and Finance (LSBF,
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