What prospers when we restart?
In the coming weeks I want to write about some of the little human moments of coping, connection or hope that we are observing in this time as well as some large opportunities that will emerge after-covid. I’m doing this alongside my colleagues at Freestate and a network of thoughtful friends who will also be reflecting, exploring and posting stories inspired by hope.
“What if we used this disruption as an opportunity to let go of everything that isn’t essential in our life, in our work, and in our institutional routines? How might we reimagine how we live and work together? How might we reimagine the basic structures of our civilization? … That’s the conversation we need to have now. With our circles of friends. With our families. With our organizations and communities.” — Otto Scharmer, Author of Theory U and co-founder of the Presencing Institute
The situation that we find ourselves in at the moment needs no introduction — ‘we are all in this together’ — is a commonly used phrase to describe the collective experience the globe is currently undergoing. At the point of writing this, 4 Billion people are in effective lockdown — half the worlds population. We rarely experience such global, collective experience as this and the few we have endured in the past had permanent effects. So the scale of this experience is almost unprecedented.
Another factor that is fascinating and scary at the same time is the speed in which it has taken effect. A statement that has stayed with me recently is ‘Ten days isn’t a lot of time to change the world’ — but that is effectively what we have been forced into. The scale and speed of what is happening means many of us are still in shock and experiencing trauma, and will be for a while. I want to acknowledge this and also my relative privileged position amongst the worlds population. This means that I can be at home, with food and internet, writing this thought piece about a future, post-Covid world that for many is the least of their worries right now. There is very real pain and suffering and this should not be minimised or ignored — it must be the main focus of anyone with influence or resources. The whole world in disarray, waiting patiently for the chaos to dissipate.
However, those of us who find ourselves in privilege and aren’t qualified to be helpful on the front line can still be doing something for the greater good — we can get to work creating a better future.
For the lucky ones, this time is a gift. Almost a random act of kindness from the universe. On the good days, the nature of this crisis is an opportunity for us to pause for a moment and reflect.
Currently we are experiencing exponentially unfolding disruption, some of which will be temporary, and some will be permanent and continue to unfold on many fronts. In recent times, our world has become increasingly interconnected, layered in complexity and exponential. A changing world is not new for us humans of the 21st century. We’ve been experiencing the continuous flow and fluctuation of information and techno-socio change at speed, year-on-year. This makes us more prepared than ever to adapt to the new world that will emerge after this crisis.
But this doesn't mean we can’t now more intentionally design new relationships, new connections or platforms or new ways of living and experiencing. Quite the opposite, we have an opportunity with so much in flux, one example is how Coronavirus has changed our economic sense of the possible, what’s doable. We’re also hearing stories and anecdotes of small and large shifts in our everyday lives that many tell us they wont want to ‘snap back’ to the old ‘normal’ when this is over. We’re very keen to hear your stories of what you may be choosing to intentionally hold on to, let go of, or focus more fiercely on in the post-Covid world.
Our work at FreeState is focused on exploring and designing experiences for humans to be… human, at scale. We are experience masterplanners who focus on the places and spaces that facilitate great moments of connection, participation or belonging. It’s the unique combination of people, in places, underpinned by well planned platforms and shaped through stories and programs that allows our clients to facilitate these experiences. I’m not going to lie and say ‘we were made for this moment’ — we weren’t. We exist because we believe in the transformative power of people and places and experiences. Right now, the world is in temporary ‘on-pause’ in much of the physical realm and many shared experiences are in hibernation. But we were made for the post-Covid world, the one that needs to be imagined, designed and prepared for. The world where we will come together and celebrate, live in altered but maybe more harmonious and sustainable coexistence. Hopefully.
Personally, I wasn’t made for this current situation either (indeed as a species, we are social, not made for isolation). My previous identity was one of professionally a ‘global adventurer’, explorer and shaper of future human experiences. I also get my personal energy from travel, exploring, wandering through places and ideas, entering new ‘worlds’ to learn about them and connecting with people over a beer or a coffee. This month has taken some adjustment — it has shaken me — but also presented an opportunity to think about what is important and what isn’t, what is needed for my happiness and what is just an unnecessary construct.
I recently heard this quote and thought it was strangely pertinent;
“Football is the most important of the least important things in life“. — Arrigo Sacchi — of A.C. Milan.
I think in this circumstance we could replace football with ‘economy’ or more specifically many of our old constructs of our ‘economies’ and even our organisations. Of course, ‘the economy’ — as it relates to jobs, liquidity, production — is very important and provides us with many important things. But surely the constructs of our economy and our organisations are merely the ‘most important of the least important things’. More important things might include (but not limited to); safety, health, environment, sustainability, society, shared bonds and hopefully, our shared spaces for forming these bonds, experiences and collective action — when the time comes.
It has taken very little time to have many of the old layers and constructs stripped back to reveal very human, shared understandings of one-another that would otherwise have been hidden or under-valued. We believe the time is right to start to rethink what our new worlds will look like on the other side and look for the new catalysts and gestures.
It’s exciting to hear organisations starting to think more longer-term, holistic and sustainably, Universities to think about reshaping their campuses to be places for connection and celebration with more focus, workplaces starting to imagine what it is like as people work from home but find centralised places to come together and create what they cant do at home or through digital channels. Or even cities that will rebuild with not only health and safety at their core, but also sustainability, community and connection rethought and re-emphasised.
In the coming weeks and months we want to explore some of these potential futures as well as the little micro human moments we uncover that signal and reflect our hopeful futures.
We really are in it together. In a way that we are still learning about. That is the strange and beautiful gift in this traumatic but transformational time.
Leigh Whittaker
Global Strategy Director. Freestate
Transformational Strategist / Experience Designer / Ambassador for seeing new possibilities / Explorer of the world**
