No, I don’t want to go back to normal…

The Covid-19 crisis has brought upon us a bucketload of disruption to our normal life. It’s been mostly painful, sometimes bringing unexpected benefits, but at the end of the day, many people just want to go back to “normal”.

I don’t. I want to go back to better.

“Never let a good crisis go to waste” (Churchill)

A crisis is indeed a great opportunity to make changes happen. Us humans have a great bias towards status quo, and it can be quite difficult to create the right conditions for changes to happen…. but we are also incredibly adaptable to changes, as we have shown during this Covid crisis! In a matter of weeks and months a lot of us have adapted to huge shifts. This can be a stepping stone to more and better changes — and the worst we could do is simply revert to our past ways without taking advantage of this unique time.

Here are some thoughts on things big and small that could be done to make the most out of this giant disruption, and improve society on the other side of Covid.

Universal basic income

When loads of people lost all or part of their income sources because of the Covid restrictions, many governments stepped in to alleviate the pain. In some cases through tax relief, in others through good old cash in hand. For some it was subsidising lost wages, for others it was money for the most vulnerable regardless of job status.

This is not universal basic income, but we’re getting close.

So, here’s a thought: why not go that little step further and try universal basic income for real. There is support now, but the window might be closing according to studies.

Why shift to this now? Beyond the appeal of universal basic income alleviating poverty and improving health & education, this concept is quite timely to counter the fears of jobs disappearing due to technology… or due to much needed progress away from polluting industries that governments prop up. For example, instead of subsidising coal mines to maintain jobs and score votes in the face of more efficient renewable energy sources, political leaders could use universal basic income to help people transition to better jobs (and lives). So let’s stop localised hand-outs, extend relief payments and lift everybody up.

Valorise the jobs that matter

Speaking of work: did you notice this notion of “essential worker” that emerged during Covid? Interestingly, there seems to be little correlation between what’s an essential service to society, and what’s paid well. Is it time to fix that?

So here’s a thought: let’s make the most out of our renewed awareness of what is essential to our society. Let’s start paying (and respecting) more our teachers & child care workers, nurses & personal carers, garbage collectors and supermarket staff, farmers & all food producers (and more)! Maybe even start paying less for jobs that are NOT essential… but that’s another battle.

Why shift to this now? Well first because we owe the essential workers a lot for their selfless service during this crisis period… but also because some of these are currently incredibly under-valued (e.g. early childhood educators). This is even more important for those essential jobs where we should stimulate vocations to plug the needs-gap. High-touch personal and care jobs cannot be automated or made more efficient by tech, and we’re going to have more and more people on this planet to care for, from toddlers to seniors.

4-day work week

For those who could work remotely during the pandemic came an interesting realisation: hey, spending time with family is actually nice! (for most people). Replacing lengthy commute with breakfast with kids, swapping flying around the world for a meeting with some gardening, many are enjoying more time at home. At the same time, remote workers also had to learn how to squeeze their week’s work wherever they could while juggling kids & cooking.

So here’s a thought: since we enjoy time at home, why not shift to a standard 4-day work week?

Why shift to this now? We know from experiments like Microsoft’s in Japan that 4-day work weeks have positive effects on work & staff. So much so that there’s even now a global push for the change, and more and more press on it. While our workdays and workweeks are all messed up, mind as well not go back to the subpar option of 2-day weekends.

Run organisations trust (and Theory Y)

Another huge change for remote workers has actually been for managers: they were forced to trust their staff! In a world where the main management model remains one of tight command & control (a stubbornly sticky remnant of the industrial age), this forced experiment has shown organisations that trusting staff actually can work. I have not heard of organisations dramatically crashing simply because their staff did not have a manager looking over their shoulder. But some managers are still unable to shift from Theory X (from McGregor’s work: a view that workers are lazy and have no ambition), and it shows with some organisations mandating staff to return to the office as soon as possible… while others like Atlassian have taken the other road, shifting to “work from anywhere, anytime” policies.

So here’s a thought: why not take the plunge and experiment further with what happens when you trust your employees? Start to rethink your organisation’s structure and policies when you start from a place of trust?

Why shift to this now? Studies show that adopting a Theory X or Theory Y perspective (believing that people are intrinsically motivated and take responsibility for their work) tend to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. As more and more scholars have studied organisations that are run based on trust (such as Buurtzorg or Morning Star), we see that these outperform their peers while offering great employment experiences to their workers. In normal times, Theory X prevails and there are strong forces pushing leaders to maintain a model of management adapted to this view. But we’ve now been forced into Theory Y, so let’s resist going back to the past.

Pick our leaders more carefully

Poor leadership kills. Litterally. We’ve learned this much during the pandemic, seeing the difference between leaders who had the courage to take tough decisions quickly, and those who faltered. The former saved lives, the latter caused deaths indirectly.

Beyond the veneer of political and business leadership which usually makes many people’s eyes roll, we have seen that who leads matters. And that we may need to consider who we pick with more care. Political leaders should be about more than sound bites and photo-ops. Business leaders should be about more than quarterly financial results, or more than interviewing well. Values matter, thinking style matters, the ability to step up matters.

And while we cannot go back in time to select different leaders for the moment when Covid hit us all, who we pick now still matters. All the changes I mention above require courage from leaders to NOT go “back to normal”.

We need leaders who have the courage to take us over to better.

So here’s a thought: let’s find better ways to pick leaders. Put more effort into it. Realise the importance of this and not skimp on that step — whether it’s Boards selecting CEOs or political parties selecting their leader to go into an election.

Why shift to this now? This may be a unique moment to re-engage people with the importance of leadership selection. Do you really want to keep living a life where the people making the decisions affecting your life (and that of your children) are selected based on how good they look? I don’t think so.

None of the changes above are easy, but they are for our society’s benefit. I believe the last shift is a key to enabling the rest on a global scale — and that at a local scale you can make changes in your organisation. If you think that too, please reach out!

What other shifts do you think we could make to “return to better”? Add your ideas in the comments!