Who moved my cheese? (1/2)
The year that was. Well, 2020 was no one’s ideal year. It officially made everyone (perhaps, not all but those who have ever heard or read about it) exclaim this at least once — ‘Who moved my Cheese?’
― Rumi
Truth be told, this was the kind of cheese that no one in their sane minds would go looking for. But before I rant about how a virus emerged as the essential element that changed the course across industry verticals for years to come. We’ve got to acknowledge the uncalled for addition of two words in our vocabulary — Unprecedented(Oops…Sorry, it’ll take a while to de-register this word from regular use), and Pivot (a word that everyone is now too familiar with).
For many, in the initial days, not only was the ‘normal’ that their foundation of business based upon dwindling, but also at the verge of diminishing into nothingness. Days turned into months, and the cheese kept moving in all directions. And all we wanted was for this to stop, perhaps, reload. But it didn’t. Months later, amidst the raging pandemic, entrepreneurs across the globe chanted, pivot. The only solution that seemed feasible at the time was to divert this hellfire from consuming the savings from bank accounts.
Cut to December — the obsession of ‘Winter is coming’ had somewhat lost its charm. After hours of creative brainstorming (yes, there is plain brainstorming, and then there is that), days of work from home (torture, at first sight, love at second), and finally unaccounted minutes of uncontrolled scrolling and streaming (you know, if you know). We survived.
If you have read this far, I shall not give you the benefit of the doubt. But I do owe you the benefit of the — Pivot. For instance, Spotify (a Swedish startup, also a global leader in music streaming) was almost pushed to the sidelines just when it was beginning to gain some solid traction. It suffered a loss in evident numbers when the advertisers began to pull a plug on their budget due to the pandemic. For the most part, the company relies on free users who must listen to advertisements before streaming (remember, enjoy the next 30 minutes of uninterrupted listening). However, Spotify made a wise pivot to offer original content in the form of podcasts. With people spending most time trapped in their homes, the demand for podcasts surged across various genres. Thereby helping the customers to uplift their mood from home during a pandemic.
Even though being caught off guard once in a century may seem okay. But not at the cost of human lives. This shall not be the way. I have spoken.
Indeed, 2020 was no one’s ideal year. And if you beg to differ, then allow me to continue this conversation over a cup of coffee.
