Please join me Tuesday, June 16, 12:30p-2:00p Pacific Time for the fifth in our series of online conversations, exploring how we all might live with grace, calm, and power in this VUCA world—and help guide what Dr. Fernando Flores calls the “reconfiguration of everything.” (The prior calls are available on my YouTube channel, linked in the sig below.) NOTE: Because of Zoom’s new security protocols, you must pre-register to attend.
Our worlds change out from underneath us
When I began this online discussion series in March, connecting the coronavirus and the climate crisis was an edgy idea. But now those seem just a hint of the disruptions we face—economic turmoil, racial injustice, US/China tension, the collapse of globalization, and, oh yes, the next pandemic.
We’re all overwhelmed, confused, afraid, indignant—and many of us are resolute, determined, and energized by a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for change. (And only 9% of us (according to one poll) want to go back to what used to be called “normal”.)
Which leads me to wonder:
How does the impossible happen?
How does the impossible happen, in a world of concatenating, co-evolving, contingent, crises? How does it happen blazingly fast?
We’ve all heard the almost automatic chorus of “It’s always been this way.” “It’s impossible.” “We couldn’t possibly.” “Certainly not quickly.” “We can’t afford it.” And yet…
As we and a dozen of our favorite competitors challenged 80+ leading companies last week (in “The Covid Covenant”),
“…the pandemic has shown that we can take action at speeds we did not think possible, with coordination we didn’t believe possible, and on a scale we did not believe possible. All without hearing cries for predatory delay, such as ‘how will we pay for it?’ and ‘we need to take things slowly.’
“What if we could we bring the speed, scale, scope and coordination of their pandemic response to the other mega-issues looming before us?”
That’s some of what we’ll explore on this week’s call. Yes, we’ll record it, but it won’t be the same without you there! I hope you can join us.
Thank you, in any case, for all you do. Be sure to register for next week’s call, stay safe, and stay tuned!
PS: What can you do right now?
Right now, when you can’t do what you usually do—or at least not in the same ways—what will you do? Where will you focus? What capacities will you—and your company—build, in this time of reflection, reset and redesign? How will you learn to plan—and execute—in a world where the rug might be pulled out from under you at any moment? What conversations will you initiate and nurture in your organizations? Who will you invite to join you in these conversations? What are you—and your organization—really here to do? How will you resist the pervasive pressures for short-term gain? Who do you need to be to do what you’re really here to do?
Do these questions and this thread provoke you? Unsettle you? Inspire you? Do they raise questions you hadn’t thought to ask—or hadn’t wanted to ask? Then let’s schedule a personal conversation to explore how I can add value to you or your organization—whether as strategic advisor, coach, thinking partner, or board member—as you reset, and cultivate the NEXT “normal”.
Just call or drop me an email—including a brief idea of what you’d like to discuss—and propose two or three potential times (including your time zone). I’ll do my best to respond promptly.
THANK YOU!
Gil Philip Friend
Founder & CEO, Natural Logic Inc. | Founder, Critical Path Capital
The task ahead (if we were to really tell the truth about it):
Reinventing the economy of an entire planet.
This planet. In one generation.
Tel: 1-510-248-4940 | Cel: 1-510-435-6346 | Blog | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube