We have reached the final post in our series on capitalizing on post-COVID opportunities and preparing for success in recovery. If you have yet to look through Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4, that may be the best place to start.
The idea in this final post is to take everything we’ve learned over the last year, and over the previous four posts, and apply that to preparation for future crises.
Crises are like black swan events: the next one never looks like the previous one. If they did, they’d just be everyday events. So, it’s unlikely that we can prepare with specificity for the exact next crisis we will face. We can, however, be prepared for future disruptions and similar challenges to be more nimble, adaptable, and ready to capitalize on opportunity.
Here are a few questions to consider tying everything together and preparing for the future…
- Have you made peace with the reality that there will be future crises? Has your team?
- The first step to successful recovery and preparation is acknowledgement of the brutal reality.[1]
- What best practices from 2020 need to be codified as part of your emergency plans? Think beyond COVID-like emergencies.
- Do you have an emergency plan? If not, what do you need to do to make one? Commit to doing so.
- Where could you have been more proactive in 2020? How can you make note of those areas to be more proactive in future disruptions?
- What will you do differently for and with your team in future emergencies?
- What financial decisions do you need to make in good times to be better prepared for harder times?
- What resources do you need to proactively obtain before the next crisis? What’s your action plan to obtain them?
- How will you prepare your customers for your response to the next crisis? How will you communicate that to them?
- How and where are you stronger because of 2020? How will you capitalize on that?
- What new positive opportunities exist? How will you use those to prepare for future challenges?
- Where were you complacent before 2020 that put you at any disadvantage? Have you strengthened those areas yet? Do you need to? How will you guard against future complacency?
- Where are you weaker or more fragile after 2020? What are you doing to address those weaknesses, and how quickly?
- Where were you totally unprepared before 2020? Have you fixed that permanently?
- Where are you totally unprepared today? Particularly in ways that don’t look similar to the last black swan event.
Again, these are just a few things to consider. You may also wish to look at how your Mission, Values, Vision, and Goals incorporate flexibility, adaptability, and resilience. Does your team fully understand that? Do your customers? Do you?
Life will always throw challenges our way. Surviving them is not the issue. Being prepared so we can thrive in them is what we’re after.
Thanks for going on this five-part journey through COVID recovery planning. I hope you found at least one useful idea in the series, and I hope you are thriving and excited about the opportunities and possibilities that 2021 and beyond hold.
We think that we can spot problems on the horizon and prepare before they reach us. Most problems come without warning. They don’t wait for us to be ready. We must always be ready.
While we don’t know when the storm is coming. We know there is a storm coming.
-Shane Parrish
Need help preparing for the next crisis? Contact us today to discuss your opportunities.
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[1] See Good to Great by Jim Collins
