What is “Normal” anyway?
The last few months have seen a spate of articles talking about “The New Normal” or what is going to be normal during and post the current pandemic. But what is the normal we seek to return to anyway?
In just the last 20 years, we’ve had a number of events that have “changed everything”. I remember watching the aftermath of 9/11 on television as a child. Since then, there have been numerous terrorist attacks, all around the world, and wars fought as a result. Countries have endured wars, political strife, coups, regime changes and much much more. All in the last 20 years.
I lived in a region that was badly hit by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Since then, there have been plenty of similar natural disasters, ranging from hurricanes to volcanoes. Some affecting local communities, while others have been large enough to affect the global economy.
The most recent event that had such a wide-ranging economic impact was probably the 2008 recession. Even then, people talked about the long term effects, and how things may never return to “normal”. Much like the current crisis, the recession disproportionately affected different socio-economic segments. There have been plenty of books and articles and debates since, on the effect that widespread inequality is having on economy. Today’s crisis has thrown up a number of questions on stimulus packages, and how they are spent, universal healthcare, infrastructure and government transparency, following a similar pattern to the recession.
Yes, this is a pandemic, and has little in common with a natural disaster or a terrorist attack or a recession. But we’ve had similar epidemics in the recent past. SARS, MERS, Ebola, Swine Flu. Not to forget Zika, Chikungunya and a number of other similar communicable diseases. The threat of a large scale Coronavirus pandemic had been brought up in a number of books and papers, but little was done to change the conditions that have led to its global transmission.
The way we work has also changed dramatically in the last few years. Social media wasn’t even a thing 20 years ago, while today it is a behemoth of an industry. People have gone from working on desktops to laptops to even working off their phones, with all the data being stored on the cloud. And why not? What used to take a team of highly skilled creators or editors, and professional grade equipment can be today be done at home with consumer grade cameras or laptops, or even smart phones. And cloud sharing is much more convenient than a floppy or a CD.
It is also easier than ever to learn anything today. Khan Academy, Coursera, Lynda and many others have high quality courses, and YouTube has more than enough qualified teachers. Pretty much any skill is instantly accessible.
So has the way we play. I remember first hearing about Diplo on the soundtrack to the game SSX On Tour. This was when we had to go to an Internet Cafe to reliably play multiplayer games. Last week he hosted a live event on Fortnite’s new party mode, and millions around the world tuned in for the experience.
Technology keeps evolving, but businesses also need to be quick to adopt it. Zoom and Teams were both available long before the lockdowns and quarantines started, but not everyone had fully integrated these into their workflow. The same can be said of all the other technology, be it online courses or Fortnite concerts. Quite a few businesses were resistant to it, until they either shut down, or were forced to change. And let’s be honest, any business that continues to resist change today, isn’t going to come out of this crisis in one piece.
Change seems to be the only constant. Yes, each of these events are catastrophic, and each unique. But they’re not entirely unprecedented either. The brands and companies that are most likely to survive, are also the brands and companies that can quickly pivot and change.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but these agile brands are also the brands that have a strong foundation, a strong company culture, and a strong connection to their customers. Along with that foundation though, they look at trends and technology and what the future holds. They try new things, and when they fail, they learn from their mistakes. Their strong foundations give them a safety net when things are going well. Their agility gives them a safety net when crises appear. The balance of the two is what keeps them going, regardless of bumps in the road.
There have been crises of various kinds in the past, and there will be plenty more in the future. Local or global, small or large, each of them has some lasting effects. It is almost impossible to “go back” to the way things were pre-crisis. We need to understand and accept this, and build our brands and businesses accordingly. We need to realize that the “normal” is constantly changing, and will continue to change.
PS: I feel like I’ve heard the Killer Hornet story before.