I have never been so compelled to write and share my thoughts with the world, or at least with whoever is willing to listen.
These are difficult and trying times for us all. We have just been hit with a Global Crisis - “The Covid-19 Economic Crash” could be worse than "The 2008 Financial Crisis”. The difference being that now people are dying, at a devastating rate, and all of this, on the cusp of (yes I’m tired of hearing it too) the 4th Industrial revolution.
The world of work has been incredibly trying and ever-changing for some time, but in the face of the Covid-19 virus, “incredibly trying” now feels “virtually-impossible” and “ever-changing” now feels “fundamentally different each and every day”.
It doesn’t have to be this way though - if we can learn to Discover, Understand, Accept and Love change, we will thrive amidst the chaos. The D.U.A.L model, somewhat stoic in nature, was co-created by my father and I while he was writing his doctoral thesis back in 2010 and speaks of various dualities within the realms of leadership, human behaviour and life itself.
Contemplating the D.U.A.L model I realise that there is a duality here. This unprecedented time we are going through as individuals, families, communities and countries will force us to adopt certain, 'new' behaviours.
The thing is, we have actually all been pouring time, energy & money into trying to develop within our jobs, teams and businesses for many years. Trying to build skills to become corporate athletes, 10X businesses or soldiers on the front-line of the ambiguous and paradoxical "future world of work".
We are now being called, not at soldiers but as citizens of the world to unite and “flatten the curve”, which in layman’s terms means avoiding social interaction at all costs (as though you had the virus) so as to stop spreading it (often unknowingly) and flooding the healthcare systems – which ultimately leads to unnecessary deaths.
TeamVR, a division of The Networking Company, uses Facilitated Virtual Reality Simulations to help organisations and their people develop “The 5 C’s of Team Performance”, namely: Curiosity, Commitment, Collaboration, Communication and Contribution.
It’s probably best I expand on these in further articles but I am certain that these behaviours, among others, will be demanded of us now to flatten the curve and survive during the Covid-19 outbreak. We need to be curious and learn as much as we can about this virus, remote-working, ourselves; we need to be committed to avoiding social interaction, even if we have strong immune systems or don’t feel ill; we need to collaborate to flatten this curve and help others survive. You get the idea.
I am also equally certain that on the other side of this crisis we will emerge stronger; as higher performing individuals, teams and leaders because once these behaviours are adopted, and the benefits of them are quickly realised, they will never be forgotten.
We will have discovered them, understood them, applied them and begun leading our lives (personal & professional) in a fundamentally different way.
I can already feel a shift in behaviour among the people I interact with, new acquaintances and old friends alike, virtually or in person. We are becoming more passionate, more empathetic and more vulnerable.. The very things we will need to survive in a highly digitised, mobilised and automated world of work.
I look forward to the other side of this. A new way of being. A higher consciousness. A better World for us all.
- Ricardo
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