“Once you STOP believing something is IMPOSSIBLE, You START believing it’s POSSIBLE.”
We have been in crazy times this past year and it has forced us to think beyond the limits we thought capable of. Crisis forces creativity. And while the light at the end of the tunnel burns brighter, we should never forget the benefits of a good pandemic.
Think back to February 2020 and all the things we would have said were impossible. As a former Vice-President of Human Resources, had I suggested to my CEO that everyone works from home before COVID, he would have told me to ‘Go home” because that would be crazy. But one month later many of us moved into our new office and remained there for a year. In fact, the CEO of Morgan Stanley said in an April 2020 interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box,
“If you said three months ago I would have 90% of my staff at home, the probability would be virtually zero.”
Here is what happened:
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- City Building Inspectors conducted home inspections via video.
- Theater Directors performed rehearsals via Zoom.
- Physical Therapists evaluated shoulder rotation over video.
- Customer Service Reps responded to banking inquiries from home.
- Sommeliers offered wine tasting via Zoom.
Most kids, at some point, joined their classmates while wearing their PJs and sitting on their bed. A year ago, ask any of these people if they felt this was possible and most – maybe all – would have said, “Absolutely, NOT!”
And one year ago, each of them would have been correct because we had a different mindset of what was possible. But what we have seen this last year is ingenuity, determination, grit, and the most out-of-the-box thinking in my lifetime. Crisis forces creativity. So, knowing these skills exist within us during times of crisis gives us confidence they exist at other times.
Were these situations optimal? In most cases, no. But as my wife said to me shortly after we entered this lockdown and saw our kids challenged with school,
“We are no longer working toward optimum; we are striving for adequate.”
And with each day we moved a little further from adequate and a little closer to optimum as we adapted to a new reality.
Do I want to get back to normal? Yes, but not the same ‘normal’ as of February 2020. As summer approaches and most of us will have had the opportunity for a vaccine, we should ask ourselves:
1. What did I do differently this year that I will keep doing?
2. What changes should my organization, team, or employees make permanent?
3. What changes would my customers want me to continue?
4. What did I once say was impossible, but realize now it might be possible?
Pushing oneself, whether physically or mentally, involves using a muscle and that muscle was stretched to new limits this year. Unfortunately for some, it broke as we have seen some companies go out of business. But the vast majority will survive and come out stronger. That’s resilience.
I have learned a few things about strengthening muscles after training for and finishing many crazy endurance events. I ran 205 miles – eight marathons back-to-back — around Lake Tahoe in 76 ½ hours with only 90 minutes of sleep. I cycled 4,000 miles across the United States. I road 300 miles on my bike in one day. None of those were impossible. All, however, were hard, forced me to tears, or caused significant pain. But as the muscle stretched further each day and I became stronger physically and mentally, I grew and realized I could go even further.
That is exactly what this year is doing for many of us. As Yvon Chouinard, CEO of Patagonia and pioneering rock climber, wrote in his book:
“IMPOSSIBLE. The lamest of the lame excuses! Difficult maybe, or impractical, or too expensive, but rarely is anything impossible.”
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