Over the last few weeks, I’ve watched at the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus, and the worlds response to it.
Within the UK (as across the world), our Prime Minister has been forced to take the necessary measures to try and slow the spread of this disease, including the banning of all social gatherings of more than 2 people, temporary closure of all pubs, bars and restaurants and forced ‘lockdown’ of a country other than those working directly or supporting the National Health Service and/or other emergency/essential services.
On one single day I received either calls or emails to advise more and more events to which I had been booked to speak at were being either cancelled or postponed as the world reacted to this crisis. And as having served as a Rapid Deployment Combat Medic for over 12 years in the British Armed Forces, I know only too well the ‘drills’ now being acted upon, as the world attempts to manage this crisis. But I also want to offer an alternative view on this (after all, as a speaker I am predominantly booked to bring an alternate perspective to proceedings in order that people leave thinking differently).
Perhaps there has NEVER been a GREATER need for the events to which have been cancelled or postponed to go ahead! You see, whilst the crisis has the world stage at present, both life and business MUST continue.
Dissecting the problem to find the cure
For a virus to live, it needs a host. Once a host is found, 2 things will occur. The virus begins to affect the host, and the hosts immune system will ‘kick in’ to attempt to fight and kill off the virus. If the host wins, the virus dies, if the virus wins in this situation the host dies. But in doing so, the virus is also at risk of dying (as it no longer has a host!).
In the same manner, prior to COVID-19 it was identified there was a need for a conference. Then a virus came along, and to prevent the risk of COVID-19 (in its need for hosts) to infect all the attendee’s the conference has either been postponed or cancelled. And whilst this has prevented the virus from spreading, it hasn’t doesn’t anything to address the initial problem – whatever it was that has been identified which established the need for the conference.
YES, there is a greater need at present (Stopping the spread of infection) but whilst cancellation or postponement addresses this, we are still left with (possible even more so) the need to address the original issues. Therefore, perhaps we need to move to ALTERNATE methods of delivery than deferring the solution to an ongoing problem!
I recall a conversation I had with an American client in October 2018.
I had been brought in to do some inhouse work (Keynote and masterclasses) with the sales team after it had been identified a recent dismissal of the sales manager had led to a demotivated team which was impacting performance.
However, we quickly established whilst this was a problem, it was not the cause. And by addressing only this issue, would have a temporary resolve for results, would not address the root cause. The client agreed for me to conduct our SCALE audit, and from this we identified several ‘bottlenecks’ within the business both preventing it from SCALE and causing a number of inner problems across numerous departments. A proposal was put forward on how we could work with them to address the root causes identified, enough to enable them to grow significantly and sustainably, confident in the knowledge these had now been addressed.
However, when the proposal was presented, it equated to more of an investment than they had originally intended to spend, and the finance director made the decision it would NOT be possible to proceed until the new financial year (Some 6 months post my initial intervention).
Despite several attempts to understand the decision and the impact this was likely to have on the business, the FD was adamant it was “out of budget” and would need to be considered by the board at the AGM in late March.
I wrote back to the client just 6 weeks later and begun working with them on implementing the findings from the Audit report on the root causes in January 2019!
(Thanks for reading this far, if you would like to know what I said in order to facilitate these 180-degree changes so quickly, simply book a call so I may share it with you)
My point here is, there is still the same amount of money in the world now, than there was pre-corona and than there will be post crisis. Our circumstances may have changed, and therefore our priorities may have changed, but the problem identified pre-crisis is most likely still a problem, we may now have an even longer list of problems, hurdles, bottlenecks preventing the significant and sustainable growth of both us and our businesses.
It was Einstein who is credited with having first remarked:
“You will never overcome a problem, using the same level of thinking, as that which created it in the first place”
So rather than making the snap decision to cancel and postpone, we should be working together (even if remotely at present) to find alternate ways of addressing the root causes which determined the need for a conference, and finding methods of resolving these.
Personally, I’ve seen a marked INCREASE in the amount of enquiries received, from clients old and new asking for help, guidance, support, motivation, INSPIRATION on how to cope, survive, PIVOT during this crisis. And as a former rapid deployment combat medic, I’ve had YEARS of experience, working with some of the most highly trained and professional soldiers in the world on how to adapt and overcome.
My Corps motto throughout my career was:
“In Arduis Fidelis – Faithful through adversity”
It’s as true now as it was then. Give me a call or drop me an email – together we’ve got this!
To book a complimentary call with Jay to discuss this article, your company or anything else, simply visit: https://jay-motivation.youcanbook.me
You may also find the following articles of interest:
Why saying No, is good for business
What to consider when choosing a keynote speaker
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