I am writing this post on the eve of the new year, 2021. Years change every 365 days, and time keeps moving. Personally, I never give significance to the change of the year. Nothing changes with the change of year; all the celebration is just our way to deceive ourselves. At best, years, months, or any other time measurement are milestones on the road of time. More than a celebration, a milestone is a chance to reflect and plan.
2021 has more relevance to this analogy because 2020 was very different from any of the previous years any of us have ever witnessed. Diseases, calamities, wars, attacks, and other events impacting human beings are not new, but the magnitude of this Pandemic has affected people worldwide. It is safe to say that this one way or another impacted everyone on this planet. I wouldn’t talk much about how it has impacted this world and all of us. But I will surely say that some of the impacts will be permanent and change the way this world operates in many areas.
Till Jan 2020, there were many concerns about the future, but one of the tops was How the future would be impacted by technological disruption. I was talking a lot about this topic. Everyone was concerned but sure that change would come in sometime future, we just need to start preparing for it. There were views on how far this threat is, but it was somewhere in the future.
What 2020 brought was an immediate threat and not a simple one. It was a question of life or death, that also too quickly. We were not prepared for it. We learned on the fly and still learning. But if you are someone who believes that everything happens for a reason (I am myself not sure about that assumption, but for the time being, let’s agree to that), here is my question for you – What has 2020 prepared us for?
Two things I can think of are –
- We are better prepared to deal with threats emerging from Technological Disruption as it happened overnight with worldwide lockdowns. Even smallest colleges figured out virtual learning, and smallest organizations figured out work from home for non-physical work. It will undoubtedly result in efficiencies and better workplaces in the longer term.
- It has also better prepared us for any similar or larger pandemics in the future. None of us want that, but we also know things don’t happen based on what we wish. We need to prepare better for these kinds of scenarios and not be so surprised next time.
I could think of these two; what do you think? What has 2020 prepared us for?
Gaurav Sangtani 