Post Covid-19: Seeking New Opportunities or Retreating to the Past?

Next week we will make the first steps toward a return to school. Our students in the high school will return one grade at a time. This Covid-19 pandemic has taught me one thing.... we are not going back to anything that looks like our life before. For those of you who "can't wait until things return to normal"....I would suggest you set your sights on another target. In my view this pandemic has fundamentally changed almost every part of our previous way of life and I just don't see us going back anytime soon.

For those out there who hope for the past to return so that you can find comfort in being able to rely on how you used to do things.... I wouldn't count on it. Not only will schools look different, but almost every aspect of life will look different.

Are companies who have realized how much work can be done remotely really going to continue to buy office space and force workers to come to "the office"?
Are all of our students really going to return to classrooms and be solely dependent on teachers for their learning, or for that matter will they even have to be in a classroom in order to learn at all?
Are we really going to have to board airplanes and fly all over to attend conferences to make us better at our jobs?
Students are going to college next year without taking the SAT or ACT tests. Doesn't that mean that we will finally realize that maybe there are other measures to determine the future success of students beyond high school?
If I have learned how to have groceries and fruit delivered to my house, why would I need to ever go to a physical grocery store again?

I am pondering these questions and many others as we return to school and I begin to see the Post Covid-19 era on the horizon. I am also reflecting on how I am different as a person and a leader, and possibly more prepared for the future than I would have been without this period of turmoil, uncertainty, and a fair amount of fear.

As I reflect these days, I think I have become far more resilient than before. There have been some very challenging days and certainly days where I felt overwhelmed. However, now that we are moving into a seemingly more predictable period, I feel more confident that I can handle challenges in the future. I am not a big fan of former President Richard Nixon, but I have never forgotten this quote from his farewell address..."The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire". Now, I certainly would not claim to be anything close to the finest steel as a result of this situation, but I do feel I am more resilient and perhaps a bit more willing to take on challenges.

I also think this situation has helped me to to think more creatively. By nature, I am a rather practical / pragmatic thinker and that has served me well, even in this situation, by simplifying things and creating solutions that can be foundational. That being said, Covid-19 has also helped me as a leader to think beyond the simple solutions and ponder far more creative options. I have gained a new realization that while tradition is a great thing, the comfort of the past can also hamstring us from seeing what might be possible. I have learned that we probably should just eliminate any sentence that starts with the phrase "In the past..." Instead the future more likely calls for us to start sentences with the phrase "What is it that we need?".

So I say to you... are you looking to get back to the safe harbor or Pre-Covid 19 or are you preparing for the unknown and new reality that is the Post Covid-19 era? For those who prefer old traditions and past practice, I wish you well as you seek to find familiar calm waters of your past. For the rest of you, I look forward to seeing you in the uncharted waters that lie just ahead....

Be safe... be healthy... and be well.

====================================================================== “The storm only comes to teach you how to skillfully sail your ship.”

―Matshona Dhliwa