The 'new normal' is what precisely? Reflections from posting in lockdown.
Looking back at posts on Linked In over the past few months I have collected some of those quotes or extracts that seemed to capture the mood or reflected thinking about the idea of the ‘new normal’ and what is prompting thinking.
I recognise this is just my selective, short thread and I haven’t replicted everything that was interesting or great. So this is just a snapshot.
Here are the top ten, in no particular order
“The biggest loss in the end is if we come out of the other side of this unchanged.” (J Lorenzo)
“Yes lockdown poses its own mental health challenges. But can we please stop pretending our former world of long working hours, stressful commutes, hectic crowds, shopping centres, infinite choice, mass consumerism, air pollution and 24/7 everything was a mental health utopia.” (Matt Haig)
“If we go back to the way things were we will have lost the lesson. May we rise up and do better.” (Message on London Underground board)
“Be strong and kind.” (Jacinda Ardern)
“The top 5 traits of exceptional leaders are they’re masterful communicators, unafraid of showing soft skills, they display integrity and honesty - and embrace failure, they’re visionaries and inspire others, they’re creative and solve problems.” (Charlotte Nicol)
“Although short term survival has been the first priority for your business, thinking about what the future may hold will help in making the best decisions now to help with longer-term survival and growth. If you are thinking of pivoting your business, you will want to try and make sure you pivot in the right direction!” (Adam Chambers, for the NESTA report ‘There will be no back to Normal’)
“She is the first PM to have dealt with a terrorist attack, a volcanic eruption, climate change reforms and a pandemic in one term of office - while holding a baby. So please sit down, shut up and let the woman get on with the job.” (The Female Lead)
“We will not go back to normal. Normal never was. Our pre-corona existence was not normal other than normalised greed, inequity, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate and lack. We should not long to return. We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.” (Sonya Renee Taylor)
“Difference is the essence of humanity.” (John Hume)
And number 10 ……
Am I / are we, any further forward? What can be drawn from these few quotes?
I don’t know for sure, but I sense many want to re-configure work, life, careers, ways of working, how they learn, do business.
Doing nothing is always an option. But lives, communities, organisations, the country, has shifted. Resist the urge to go back to how things were. Do something.
It is worth spending time discussing what this ‘new normal’ is together at home and at work to re-configure what we do and how together. We have all had this experience so we all have something to contribute.
There are some big themes to explore thinking and action from - leadership, mental health and wellbeing, long and short term planning and action, change, new behaviours and attitudes, learning from what has happened, the bigger picture of society and things that were bad or discriminatory.
There is a bigger picture. Alongside the pandemic, which will be with us for a long time, there is the pressing matter of climate breakdown and the urgent need to address diversity and inclusion as the Black Lives Matter movement has emerged and, ‘closer to home’, people without jobs, money, livelihoods.
If I had to pick one…
I’d go with Sonya - normal never was.