The Plus Side of the Pandemic

Harnessing Urgency

Just prior to Covid I came across this quote from Oliver Sachs on to the nature of a near-death experience: “There is an intense sense of immediacy and reality, and a dramatic acceleration of thought, perception and reaction, which allows one to negotiate danger successfully.” 

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Ode to the disrupted

Hard yards for incumbents and startups

General Electric (GE) was dropped from the Dow Jones last year. After more than a century, the oldest member finally left. It was replaced by a drugstore chain.

Many incumbents have a similar profile to GE. They have long histories. Many are profitable, household names that remain viable. Their balance sheets are strong and their reach is deep. 

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Spotting Opportunities

Harnessing the value of difference

Leave aside politics for a moment and look at what diversity actually means. It’s a range of experience, abilities, knowledge, strengths and personality. It’s like a variety performance. You might not like every act but collectively it can put on a good show.

I breed horses. In our paddocks there are heavy eaters, pretty trotters and well-conformed athletes. There are feisty stallions and quality broodmares. Some of these horses like humans. Others don’t. Some will be sprinters, others stayers. A few will be flash equestrians. Others will simply be good paddock buddies. Together, they form a herd. 

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The best thing about equilibrium? We're never there.

You're better off being here 

Equilibrium is embedded in the human psyche. Lurking behind science, culture and our daily lives is the idea that there can be a place where everything is in balance. 

In economics, it’s where demand equals supply. In physics, it’s where opposite forces cancel each other out. It is everywhere. Click here to watch Russell Crowe apply the Nash Equilibrium to speed dating. 

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Go ahead, disrupt yourself

Converting anxiety to action

Disruption is a big word. It impacts different people in different ways. Some see it as an opportunity; others a threat. 

Yet both responses are a source of anxiety. Big shifts in the commercial environment change whole industries, and eventually whole economies. With the internet, the shift can go global. Our business, our jobs, our lives: they are all affected.

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