We were having one of our regularly scheduled, executive coaching sessions when he asked, “When do you think it will get back to normal?”
“I don’t know,” I responded. “We are not in an emergency situation like last spring with COVID. Now, we are operating in an adaptive management situation. The difficulty is that we are constantly adapting to a constantly changing environment. Some days they are micro adaptations and other days they are macro adaptations. Whatever the size, they are all adaptations.
I wish I knew when it would get back to normal but I don’t. Even my best guess is just a guess. There are too many unknown unknowns in this constantly changing environment.
Still, I think there are two questions that should be asked at this time period, First, what is the line of continuity through all of this? Second, what is the goal we are trying to achieve in the midst of it?”
“Good questions,” he responded. “I had not approached it from that angle.”
“Thanks. I think the goal right now is resiliency and maximum flexibility. I also think the line of continuity begins by defining what is and what is not over given COVID. This will require people in leadership positions to treat pre-COVID patterns of work with respect but not to engage in selective memories, i.e. thinking that pre-COVID was the good old days. In reality, pre-COVID was filled with many challenges, especially about how we worked together as a team and as an organization.
We also need to recognize that in a post-COVID world, if there is such a thing in the future, it will be a time period of continual adaptation and reconfiguration until we figure out how we will work. In short, we are going to be caught between what was and what will be for more than 1-2 years.”
As we discussed my above comments, we talked about thinking strategically and focusing operationally. The conversation reminded me of a quote from the book, Leading With Strategic Thinking: Four Ways Effective Leaders Gain Insight, Drive Change, and Get Results (Wiley, 2015), by Aaron K. Olson and B. Keith Simerson. As they wrote, “Strategic thinking only matters if it leads to a purposeful action.”
I think this is another one of the big challenges at this time period. We are all engaged in in-depth strategic thinking. We also are exploring multiple possible scenarios. No one wants to be surprised by another black swan event like COVID. The difficulty is that this level of thought can be quite anxiety producing if not deeply worrisome or troubling.
Still, it is the work of leaders to engage in this level of work and to not shy away from it. During difficult times, we must explore the future and retain the capacity to make smart operational decisions. This will require each of us to understand how core operational systems are functioning, how they respond to external changes, and how they can be influenced or modified in a short time period. This level of work also requires leaders to improve how they make decisions, especially when it comes to setting precedence and being very conscious of second and third level impacts of the decisions that are being made.
Finally, all leaders have to improve their ability to manage risk. They need to diagnose what kind of risk is present and what is the risk profile. Next, they need to decide if the level of risk present, inside or outside the company, calls for a disruption of normal operations and then the development of a new plan of action or a new system. Third, once they have done this level of work, they must focus on executing the new plan or implementing the new system.
As we wrapped our regular visit, I challenged the person I was visiting with to sit down with their team and to explore the following three questions:
- Are we meeting the expectations of all our stakeholders to the best of our ability within this constantly changing environment?
- Are we able to deliver upon the mission on a daily basis and live up to our core values in how we deliver the mission?
- Are we maintaining healthy team dynamics as we do this?
These are challenging times and all of us wish things would go back to a pre-COVID normal. But, if we are being honest with ourselves and with others, that is not going to happen for quite a long time period. Therefore, we need to be the kind of leaders who stay strong, stay focused, and think carefully and thoughtfully about the choices that are before us. When we do this, we will create continuity and clarity in the midst of it all.
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