Routine.
We have routine.
“Good morning “while waiting for the thermometer all clear.
The snatched moments of laughter – less than before, but not gone altogether.
Some days are busy, some days less so.
But the days have less form than before, less shape. Less to keep them in memory. Less to measure them by.
We can measure time in policies and protocols that have come and gone. Some that we never used at all. And some that may still need to be dusted off.
Lets hope not.
Businesses that have a healthy culture see this culture bear fruit, and weather the storms, disagreement, and fear.
Businesses that have culture problems are finding that now it is too late to try and fix it.
Crises act like a magnifier. Just what you had before only more so.
Like all situations there are rarely heroes and villains, the world is more complicated than that. There are heroic acts and acts worthy of villains.
The fractures in teams, departments, and relationships are tested. How resilient we are, depends on the history we have; good or bad.
Managers and leaders, have a new appreciation of the J.K. Rowling’s Snape; doing wrong things for the right reasons; being perceived as the bad guy, and shouldering that burden silently, when so much is about survival and the greater good.
But all of this is fine. We are okay.
In that awful phrase, over used and misunderstood; this is the new normal.
This is us digging in for the long term.
Reassuring clients over misleading headlines.
Addressing customer service issues like the old days.
Accepting praise where we can get it.
Ignoring Yelp reviews – because.. really?
Creating a social life by computer.
Valuing connections like never before.
These are people I choose to go through a pandemic with.
These are the people I will get through a pandemic with.
*Apologies to Dr. Michael “The Harry Potter Vet” Miller for appropriating his Snape analogy. You can check out Michael’s work on Instagram: @harrypottervet