COVID-19 : The New "Normal"

 

Text List "Pandemic, Quarantine, "Lock down", "Work from Home" (WFH), "Social distancing." Bracket to right encompasing all words in list. Text next to bracket "New Normal"

Crisis → Opportunity

 

"When written in Chinese,
the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters.
One represents danger and the other represents opportunity." 
-John F. Kennedy

  

  • Businesses can no longer operate as they have in the past
  • What made a company successful is no longer applicable
  • Assumptions of stable predictable growth are no longer valid
  • COVID-19 is forcing companies, customers, employees and supply chain into digital and a new way of working 

 

Virtual (Digital / "electrons") is replacing physical ("atoms") offerings

Digital channel is the primary (often sole) method of customer engagement

Blue right facing Arrow with white text that says "From "Atoms" ... to Electrons

Competitive advantages shift dynamically, as business models adapt to new market realities, and may suddenly be less differentiating.

 

Customers and channels have radically shifted, to accommodate new needs and constraints, leading to a rapid change in...

  • Consumer behavior 
  • Sales models
  • New offering
  • Arrival of disruptive competitors from completely different industries

 

Digital transformation was a
"Nice to have"

⇩

Current crisis exacerbated and accelerated to a
"Must have"

Now is the time to advance a

digital transformation strategy

Various changes have also potentially created opportunities that never existed before

 

Historically, these dynamics have been a catalyst for disruption from which new business models have emerged:

  • 2002 SARS → Leads to broad e-commerce growth in Asia
  • 2009 Financial crisis → Sharing economy
  • 2020 COVID-19 → ">????
    • Some examples (already):
      • Banks - migrating from physical to online channels
      • Healthcare providers - supporting telehealth
      • Retailer - contactless shopping and delivery

Uncertainty in today's crisis requires leaders to rediscover customer needs and transform business models to meet those needs.

 

Innovating innovation

  • Innovation has not changed in this time of crisis - emphasis and urgency of where businesses should focus has
  • Current mindset allowing for more innovation, experimentation and improvisation
  • Companies, but customers, markets and regulators are lowering past barriers
  • "Fail fast", "test and learn" had penalties in pre-COVID era, today, customers, markets and shareholders demand immediate results
  • Not doing anything (playing it safe) is probably worst option as things have forever changed 

Speed is essential

  • Has always been an  important driver of innovation and transformation
  • With current crisis, luxury of time has not disappeared
  • Pandemic has accelerated pace of digital transformation
  • Digital strategies scaling from years to weeks/days

Cybersecurity teams

  • COVID-19 highlights vital role security plays both during and after crisis
  • Need to serve both remote workforce and customers through digital channels
  • Secure the customer journey through the shift to digital business
  • Require focus on dual mission of business continuity and protecting both company and its customer
  • Address risks while fortifying IT gains
  • Quickly transition and support rapid surge in digital capabilities, products and services

Ironically, today's organizations mirror biology -
those who survive… 

 

 “... are not the strongest or the most intelligent, 

but the most adaptable to change.” 

-Charles Darwin

"Work From Home" (WFH)

 

Required IT departments to quickly (and haphazardly) prepare:

  • Collaboration tool
  • File sharing tools
  • VPN access
  • System preparedness
  • Remote device policy
  • Monitoring tools
  • Remote tech support
  • Phishing attack education

 

Organizations should have been prepared....

Contact us to help you innovate and transform for the new (uncertain) "normal"

New "Normal"