The New Normal Was Always Going To Be Here
It’s the one question that everyone wants answered.
When are we getting back to normal? When will Business As Usual return? Or, if you're really trying to be thoughtful: When do we get to the New Normal?
Aside from the fact that no one has the answers to those questions, there are two realities that are more relevant, at least to me:
#1 - “Business As Usual” doesn’t exist.
#2 - There was always going to be a “New Normal”, irrespective of the pandemic.
The fact is that we won’t be the same even after we’ve solved for this pandemic. We’ve been through far too much and the changes have been far too striking - certainly much more for some than others (in ways more grave and far reaching than many of us will experience). We’ll take many of those lessons (and scars) and incorporate them into our thinking and behaviors for at some time, if not forever. (Much like those of us who can recall the Great Recession did for years afterwards.)
But - separating the human toll and focusing exclusively on the economic - that was always, in a sense, going to be the case.
Yes, there are material disruptions that have been caused by the pandemic that would not have happened otherwise, most specifically in terms of its impact on small businesses, especially new ones. They’ve had to grapple with a unique hardship before they’ve even been able to settle themselves in the current normal.
But beyond that, and I say this without judgement, the virus has also acted as an accelerant - exposing the weaknesses (and strengths) of certain businesses as they’ve maneuvered their way through the crisis. Bad business models, poor balance sheets, incoherent (or plain bad) management practices have a way of being exposed in difficult times. But they were always going to be found out at some point.
Looking after your people, being careful with your cash, obsessing over your customers are all cliches, but they’re cliches for a reason. Because they’re true. And when the shit hits the fan, they become paramount. In other words, those roosters were always coming home to roost - they got a tailwind boost in recent months.
Again, I’m not minimizing the impact of the virus. The fact of the matter is that no business was built to withstand 2-3 months of zero revenues, especially when the causes are engineered and forced upon us (for good reason). The resulting dislocations are very real and difficult to manage around. How do you manage around a closed retail store when that is what you do? Companies deserve help in these circumstances.
But, for those who didn’t have their fundamentals in order, they’d have had to contend with that sooner or later. And now’s the time to fix those problems, permanently.
For them, more than others, the New Normal was always going to be there. It’s just front and center now.
