There is beauty in the storm
Assumption reversal has been forced upon us, and it’s not a bad thing at all
The twenty-third instalment of NoTosh’s email series ‘The Provocation’
In a client meeting this week, a principal referred to the current situation as “Beautiful COVID.” The reference was intended to be tongue-in-cheek but it got us thinking… might COVID have presented us with new opportunities to celebrate what is good?
Heard of ‘assumption reversal’? Coined by Michael Michalko, a former US army officer, assumption reversal takes key assumptions from contexts, subjects, and disciplines and reverses them. This process is said to sharpen our creative thinking skills. It’s the starting point for thinking about transition design out of this to the next place we want to be.
Perhaps, rather than being disastrous, the current situation might actually be quite beautiful. An example of this might be the ‘Clap for Carers’ tribute embraced by many countries around the world. In the early evening, everyone steps put onto their doorstep or balcony and clap front-line workers. What a beautiful thing!
To combat ‘scare-mongering’, in Canada people have been embracing ‘care-mongering’. Instigated by key people in each community, and supported through a Facebook group, care-mongers drop leaflets into their neighbours’ mailboxes which provide their details, incase people need anything, especially during self-isolation. Another beautiful thing!
How might we help each other to start assumption reversal and to find the beauty in our current situation?
The Evidence
- Coronavirus: The good that can come out of an upside-down world
- Clap for Carers: UK in ‘emotional’ tribute to NHS and care workers
- Coronavirus: Kind Canadians start ‘caremongering’ trend
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