I love finding the opportunity among the chaos.
I can’t imagine that anyone saw a pandemic hitting us so violently as we rang in the new decade just a few short months ago. In the course of just weeks, we’ve suffered through devastating loss and public fear coupled with a tremendous downturn in our economy that has resulted in massive job loss and a slew of tornadoes thrown in.
Needless to say, 2020 is off to an undeniably miserable start. And yet, even with all of that negative, there is an incredible opportunity to pause and reflect about what might be changed forever - in a positive way - in our lives as a result of this extraordinary moment in time.
Days into sending our global Rapid7 team home to shelter in place, we decided transparent communication was going to be essential in helping our team to navigate this difficult time (at least for the work component of their lives). It’s been hard work. We are 1,600 people, and making sure we connect and really listen to our people on an individual basis, as well as the team and whole company, takes time, commitment and real passion to keep us thriving. I’ll be forever grateful for this opportunity to have shared time getting to know so many more people at an accelerated pace than I would normally have. From those interactions, I’ve listened to concerns, empathized with fears, and channelled what I’ve learned into our weekly Town Hall meetings so the insights of a few can be shared by many.
At night when I shut my laptop down and reflect on the day’s conversations, it’s had me pausing to consider what the world might be like when COVID is behind us, and we all attempt to head back to some semblance of “normal” in our lives. The notion that a global virus has caused us to live for months in confinement is changing just about every aspect of our daily lives. Obviously, our relationships with one another have taken on new dynamics, but so has our connection to government, healthcare, the economy and our general way of life. These changes haven’t necessarily been graceful or seamless, but they have evolved over the last several drama filled weeks. So while our society is shifting at a much accelerated pace, what can we hope will sustain - for the better - once we get through to the other side? While I’m no futurist, here are my predictions for just a few of the ways I believe our lives are about to shift as we attempt the “return” to work and life.
“Don’t Touch Me” - will take on a new meaning. Just a year or two ago, and triggered by the behavior of horrific individuals like Harvey Weinstein, the world saw an uprising of a definitive lack of tolerance of harassment and unwanted advancements. While that rally cry is still incredibly relevant and important, all of a sudden sharing the same air and standing too close to someone can be considered both offensive and dangerous. While shaking hands has served as a customary welcome in business, we may see people adopting more creative - and less intimate - ways to greet.
“Do I Need to Travel for This?” Early in my career the ability to travel for a meeting I considered to be both glamorous and a signal that I was ascending in my career. Post 9/11, when business travel of any sort began to morph into more of a challenge in the name of safety, it lost its appeal for me. Enter the post-COVID world, and we are likely to see more questions about the necessity to hop on a plane or board a train. The tolerance for exposing oneselves to the possible health risks while traveling will result in people asking “does this need to be in person?” As a result, we will pause and consider if it really does, or if we will begin to rely even more heavily on technology to connect us. Cost savings from planes, hotels and the like will also be found as a side bonus when we realize that many of our face to face meetings don’t truly require us to be actually face to face.
Will This Job Allow Me to Work From Home? Most companies in the modern era have invested massive dollars in creating the perfect physical workspace that balances form and function while creating an environment which both results in productivity and a physical representation of their culture. While I don’t believe that most companies will do a 180 and go strictly to a WFH model, I do believe the tolerance for people being able to do so will increase dramatically. If teams prove to be productive during this period of time, especially with little notice to leave the office and without the majority of people having adequate WFH set ups, managers who didn’t support this before may find themselves more open to it. Compound that with CFOs seeing the potential to save significant dollars on real estate and the ability to attract more talent who now have the ability to avoid multi-hour commutes. While nothing will ever replace the face to face comradery that comes with sharing space, having increased flexibility may result in a more appealing and workable situation for a broader group of people - along with a whole lot of cost savings.
Stay at Home! - Whether we’ve done it ourselves or we witness members of our team doing it, everyone can point to the “super hero” who comes to the office when they are sick, and tries to power through. Not only will there be more tolerance to stay at home, but the peer pressure NOT to come in when ill will likely become significant.
New Connections Are Built - Through Technology & Humanity. Whether it’s John Legend and Chris Martin performing from their living rooms, Trevor Noah broadcasting his daily show from his apartment, or fitness gurus teaching free online classes, we are experiencing the generosity and creativity of people with something to share. We’ve shifted to a mode where the empathy and thoughtfulness of people considering “what do I have to offer to those who can benefit” is a powerful (and wonderful) side effect from this COVID-filled time. By lacing together these most basic of human instincts with our technology, we are creating a kinder, more connected world. Somehow, though we are apart, we really do feel “alone together.”
Critical Care Is About to Take on an Alternate Meaning. First people were sent to work from home, which was considered a struggle by many who were not equipped to be productive away from the office. This was quickly followed with the shutting down of day cares and other support environments. Without the safety net of appropriate child care, parents have been expected to homeschool and care for their children while remaining productive at work. Balancing these dynamics in the midst of a tenuous economic climate has left families vulnerable, exhausted, and on the brink. With good child care assistance limited, many workers find themselves without the aid of paid family and medical leave, and are missing work - and pay - as a result. We may begin to see reform on universal family care which will allow ALL of us to care for our children, elders, disabled, etc. without having to give up our ability to earn a living.
Should I Go Back to School? Maybe people enter the workforce, only to ask themselves “does advanced education make sense?” As we work out the kinks of online education during this period, and while nearly every academic institution closes its doors and adopts some form of online learning, we may just see the exorbitant costs of high level education come down - which in turn should drastically drive cost down. Accessibility and affordability may allow a far greater population to be able to more readily invest in education.
It’s a strange world we’ve evolved to, where we will no longer take our health and safety for granted. With all the potential opportunity, we will still face certain realities, like relying on Amazon to safely deliver just about everything we need to our homes rather than subjecting ourselves to large crowded stores. The economic divide will continue to widen with millions seeking the aid of employment benefits, and supplementing with becoming drivers to deliver these goods we order. Only the strongest, healthiest companies will be able to afford top talent with big salaries, and those talented people out of work in droves in industries like food service and entertainment will fight over limited jobs. In short, even if we elect to lean into the “glass half full” mantra, we’ve still got some real challenges to overcome.
I embrace the quote from Brian Tracy, “You have within you, right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you.” Without question 2020 has thrown us some doozies. However, if we continue to come together with empathy, creativity, and open-mindness, this global reboot might just be a gift for the ages.
Christina Luconi is Chief People Officer for Rapid7. Follow her on Twitter: @peopleinnovator.