Pick as many curses as you want to describe the COVID-19 pandemic. I look forward to the creativity that is still to come to describe this shared period we’ve all lived through and endured. It hasn’t been easy personally or professionally. In fact, I’d argue that even for those that had it fairly easy (and I had it far easier than most), it took a toll.
But every dark cloud has its silver lining. Out of this one, we should all take stock of the positive lessons we were forced to learn so that we don’t give up the good as we look to move into the future. For me, this includes:
- Learning to use video conference to connect with people that I could not be with in person. My family began using Zoom most weekends as a way to connect. We’re spread over six different states so connecting all together in-person before COVID-19 was a rarity. I’m not going to let the end of a pandemic sever this connection.
- Developing a level of patience I’d never had to have before. I’m a pacer by nature and sometimes struggle to get thoughts out cleanly and quickly which can make video calls a real challenge at times. It’s forced me to stop, focus, and think before speaking but also to realize how difficult the same must be for others. I’m not patient by nature, but hopefully I can hold onto some that I’ve built up.
- Innovation and imagination is not primarily in-person. I’ve worked from home full-time for nearly a decade but even still I viewed innovation and brainstorming as something to travel for. Over the past 15 months, the team has put together and deployed some of the best thought through, innovative and effective solutions I have seen in my career. Is there a place for in-person in the future? Without a doubt, but I will never doubt the ability to be remotely creative ever.
- Change normally occurs gradually but sometimes can have an accelerated the learning curve. Things that I thought for sure were not going to be common in real estate for another five to ten years are being discussed as if they are foregone conclusions. Leaders, globally, are realizing that flexibility and choice are not as risky as they had thought (you’d think 15 months of pandemic forced behavior would be more deciding).
- The more things change, the more they stay the same. Some days it feels as if everything has changed around us. But then someone goes off and does something out of the blue and it feels like things are back to normal. Humans are resilient. We find ways to get it all done and remain effective. We adapt to changes as if there was no change at all while rejecting other changes for seemingly arbitrary reasons.
This list is by no means exhaustive but it certainly makes me smile reading back through it. I haven’t been on an airplane in 5 quarters, yet I’ve had the most impactful year of my career. I haven’t shaken the hand of a co-worker in 5 quarters, yet I feel closer to more of them today than I did back then. I haven’t had a day where COVID-19 wasn’t some part of a conversation in 5 quarters, yet there is still good that we can pull out of it if we simply stop to reflect.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s more that I’m looking to leave behind than bring forward. But I’m not going to let spite at a pandemic force me to be short-sighted.