By Shazad
“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” Pema Chodron
The whole world has been infected and is experiencing some kind of shock, anxiety, and pain due to COVID-19 pandemic. Many people consider this health crisis to be a “black swan” type of event. This term was popularized by author Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his 2007 book, “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable”. Taleb and others have defined a black swan as an unpredictable or unforeseen event, typically one with extreme consequences. But was this health crisis REALLY unpredictable? Were the business disruption, economic decline, and social isolation something people and businesses had no way of predicting or preventing?
For the longest time, I have been hearing so many people offering sage advice about how to work and live well to prepare for whatever the future may bring. Many of us have at least one wise philosopher practitioner we call “Mom” who repeatedly tells us what we know to be true. Business professionals also have access to Thought Leaders and Trusted Advisers that keep whispering in our ears and nudging us towards best practices that we want to hear. Below is a list of all the advice I’ve been hearing in my personal and professional life which would have certainly helped to prepare for the current pandemic and its related impact. How many of these things have you heard, and more importantly, been practicing before this health crisis?
Have 3-6 months savings that you can fall back on in case of an emergency.
Live below your means and have little or no debt.
Think long term and not quarterly.
Exercise regularly and keep your immune system healthy all year round.
Wash your hands before eating and after touching things in public places.
Get enough sleep each night.
Digital Transformation is not a fad – it is a necessity for all businesses.
Make time for important things and cut out unnecessary time wasters and money drains.
Plan for the worst-case scenarios before they happen.
Cover your face when you cough or sneeze.
Go to where the puck is going to be not where it has been.
Reduce or eliminate single points of failure in key business functions.
Good Cyber Security is not just for large organizations.
Develop a Business Continuity plan and test it regularly to make changes.
Develop and practice critical thinking with everything you read and watch.
Maintain a stockpile of some food, water, and essential items all year round.
Keep working on your communication skills – verbal and written.
Learn how to effectively use video collaboration tools.
Create a team of leaders instead of followers.
Embrace discomfort on a regular basis so you can develop patience and endurance.
If you are sick, stay away from large gatherings and avoid physical contact with family/friends.
You don’t need a lot to be truly happy in life so focus on the essentials.
The best time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.
Learn from the past and don’t repeat the same mistakes.
The right mindset in business and life fuels your success in both.
Be grateful for whatever you have since you will miss it once it’s gone.
Invest time and money in people and tools that enable people to become better.
Nobody really cares how smart you are. Show them how much you care.
Take the time to meditate, pray, or generally reflect on your life every single day.
Healthy personal and professional relationships determine our happiness in life.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
Rather than be shocked and caught off guard in the future by events in the world, we all have the golden opportunity to transform ourselves and businesses. It’s not enough to simply survive or endure the next crisis situation. We must go beyond thinking of people and organizations as Robust/Resilient vs Fragile. Taleb’s other book, the 2014 “Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder” offers a 3’rd mode of living. The author explains that there are some things that actually benefit from shocks and uncertainty and these are described as Antifragile. They thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty. Isn’t this a better way to respond to life’s challenges and uncertainty? Wouldn’t you rather be antifragile instead of just robust? This could be the difference between a successful transformative business that survives an economic downturn or change in consumer behavior vs. one that doesn’t. Individuals that embrace the antifragile mindset show up and adapt to their new circumstances rather than being reduced or destroyed by them.
Do you want examples of how to be antifragile? Take your gym workout which causes stress (hormesis) to your system when you push your body. The results of regular exercise are that you become stronger over time because your system is adapting and improving itself to go beyond endurance to that stress. Ironically, I’m writing this as I observe the Muslim month of Fasting (Ramadan) which means abstaining from food and drink from sunrise to sunset along with dropping all non-essential activity to focus on prayer and reflection. This is another kind of hormetic stress which can be classified as Dietary Restriction. The benefits of this include better metabolic function and reduction of possible future health issues along with developing patience and compassion for those who are less fortunate. I also gain the benefit of greater concentration and focus which brings clarity in times of anxiety. Hormetic stressors are accessible to all of us to enable us to rise up during times of extreme uncertainty and anxiety. Let’s listen to and follow the wise words we have been hearing and let us also find ways to make ourselves, our businesses, and our societies more robust so we are never caught off guard with what the future may bring.