Two incidents of police brutality [Rodney King and George Floyd] resemble their nature of racism or racial bias. The only difference is that the LA Riots severely damaged K-Town in Los Angeles where many Korean businesses were targeted by the protesters, but the current protest has been spreading all over the U.S. expressing their anger of injustice and extreme racism.
COVID-19 is the first pandemic in history whereby technology and social media are being used on a massive scale to keep people safe, productive and connected while being physically apart. Access for all is a human right and will become vital for the future of telemedicine, digital education, and working from home.
COVID-19 really highlighted some of our strengths and weaknesses. Strong political leadership meant New Zealand has been able to preserve human life, and our country has been singled out as a global leader in our response to COVID-19. However, it also highlighted that some areas of our economy need to improve their digital capability.
A common motto in Silicon Valley is, “Fail Fast.” This encourages companies to come up stronger after a crisis, like this one, and inspire them to take risks and understand consumers better. It will be key to make people consider that our brand is honest and that our proposal is more than simply a sale. Both aspects, taking risks and acting fast, while being honest to customers is crucial for companies.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the health of our relationships have magnified and polarized as a result of being locked indoors with family or flatmates 24/7 for weeks on end. Cracks in a strained relationship have become chasms and love and creativity have blossomed, where the base was strong before.
Post-virus time I will be stepping out and speaking out more on the business-unusual: respect business for what value it brings to the people and the planet and support its growth according to the natural rhythm. Everything is alive and takes its due time. We should treat leadership development and sustainable business as such as well.
We’ve seen how, in the space of weeks, industry can turn on a dime and innovate to produce emergency supplies to frontline workers in a crisis. I expect we’ll be seeing more innovation in the coming months and years to ensure that our communities, economy, and way of life are better prepared for such extenuating and unpredictable scenarios as the one we’re living now.