In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, my favourite podcast did an episode with interviews with people around the world about the crisis. While the world was being paralyzed by lockdown restrictions, they produced a stellar story that brought people together.
Within days, schools and universities all over Europe moved all their education online, more than once at an exceptional level of quality. In the blink of an eye beer brewers, cosmetics companies and fashion labels began producing disinfectant, facemasks and other lifesavers. Some organizations and leaders transitioned into their new roles and responsibilities so fast that it felt like they had been preparing for this moment for ages.
Yet most of us, virtually all of us, were utterly unprepared for the COVID-19 crisis and its all-encompassing impact on our lives, our jobs and the world.
Over the past months, I’ve spoken to hundreds of professionals about how COVID-19 changed their life, individually and in sessions with Michael Peter Edson, Europeana and the We Are Museums network. The intent of these sessions is to help participants to make sense of what is happening — peer to peer coaching, so to speak. Yet they also raise and answer questions about our work and future. For instance, why some organizations and individuals responded so well to a situation we were all unprepared for.
Based on over 80 hours of (group) conversations, I distinguish at least three factors that allowed organizations and individuals to respond proactively and meaningfully to the COVID-19 pandemic: clarity of purpose within their context or community, a diverse and robust network, and the ability to create.
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