I sit here like most people in 2020, in self-isolation, working at home, due to Covid-19. This is clearly a 100 year event, a Black-Swan, a jolt to humanity, or whatever you want to call it. But it’s also, clearly a moment of change; in our lives as individuals, as family units, as colleagues, and the broader community that we live in.  

During these times, a lot of things have been written, and something really resonated with me that I wanted to share - 

“And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced.  Some met their shadows. 

And people began to think differently. And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways the earth began to heal. And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed”.  

Kitty O’Meara.

I found this piece incredibly enlightening, and alongside the reflection moment of the pandemic, it triggered me to get off my ass and write a book that I started and didn’t finish the previous year.   

The original title of the book was ‘Happy Work’, or ‘Joy Company’ and was meant to try to unlock how the world of work was changing to help define the next generation companies and cultures. I felt I had a good perspective from both growing up in, and leading, ‘modern companies’ in Europe, USA, and Asia Pacific. 

But I just couldn’t really nail a trigger or hook to make sense of the why or the how.

And then, I found myself being forced to send our company to work from home, doing Google Hangouts with all corners of the world for too many hours of the day, and I read Kitty’s piece, and thought this moment is going to be the trigger. 

We were all being forced to stop, and rethink, and I felt, like Kitty said, if people are going to be coming out of this moment, with new ways of being, and thinking, maybe I could help a little, by having a perspective on how this ‘Reset’ moment could affect how we will come together to work in the future. 

So, in the spirit of optimism, positivity and openness, here are some learnings, observations and thoughts, written during the first Covid lockdown, that as we all emerge back to normality, hopefully provide some inspiration as we reset into this new wave of work.