Navigating The Big Reset

With news on April 14 about governors joining together to figure out how to start reopening the economy, it’s not a bad idea for all of us to think how we will reset our lives, our organizations, and our society. What have we learned while sequestered at home? What are we doing better than we did before? Did we spend our time finding passions or helping our community instead of simply pursuing recreation and leisure activities no longer available?

We learned something about climate change for sure. Even if we aren’t driving, aren’t traveling, and aren’t doing many of the activities that we normally do, the changes in carbon emissions aren’t enough to put us on the path to carbon neutral. This is the time when we hope to go back to normal, however, that old normal might not, and perhaps shouldn’t be, what we strive for.

This is the time of The Big Reset, and how we decide to reset our lives, our companies and our societies might make the difference in creating a sustainable new normal for the benefit of generations to come.

CEO Advice in the Midst of the COVID-19 Crisis

In a recent story in Fortune’s CEO Daily, former Honeywell CEO Dave Cote, who successfully navigated the Great Recession, had some advice for CEOs about navigating the COVID-19 crisis. 

• Focus on leadership, not consensus. “What matters is getting feedback from all your people, then making a decision.”
• Hope for the best, plan for the worst. “Pick a plan and start executing as if you expect the worst to happen.”
• Keep workers around for the recovery. In the recession “we did very few layoffs… Instead, we relied on furloughs.”
• In a crisis, don’t take a bonus. “When workers asked me if I intended to take a bonus for 2009, I’d say that was up to the board… That was a big mistake.”

Guides to Addressing the Crisis

In a similar vein, numerous sources have flooded the internet with guides on how to respond to the coronavirus crisis and take advantage of the CARES Act. Here are some links we think are helpful.

• Deloitte offers The heart of resilient leadership: Responding to COVID-19, A guide for senior executives.
• CDC Loans Small Business Owner’s Guide to the CARES Act.
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Coronavirus Emergency Loans Small Business Guide and Checklist.
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Newsletter Accessing all its coronavirus guides.

Coronavirus or COVID-19? How the Pandemic Terms Were Named

The World Health Organization simply and authoritatively tells us how “the virus (previously known as “2019 novel coronavirus”) and the disease it causes were named:

• The Disease - coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
• The Virus - severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Big Oil and the Big Pandemic, an Uncommon Mix

A pandemic and an oil crisis at the same time. What next? According to Fortune, the global price war started by Saudi Arabia and Russia has resulted in the planet running out of places to store the surplus. On Sunday, an agreement was made to cut production, but, according to the New York Times, they "still fall far short of what is needed to bring oil production in line with demand."

What Other Countries Are Doing

While media coverage has mostly been on the U.S., Europe and China, countries around the world are addressing the crisis in different ways.

• Iceland. Any citizen can request a coronavirus test, simply by filling out an online form. Without widespread testing, the country believes it can’t know “how and why it is spreading in the society” says the CEO of the Icelandic biopharma company DeCODE.
• New Zealand. This country’s approach isn’t to contain the virus, it is to eliminate it from within its border. Using 14-day isolation for anyone entering the country is part of the plan.
• Germany. Has been using a German Air Force Airbus A-310 converted into a "Medevac" plane with 38 beds and three intensive care units to transport patients from Italy to Germany for treatment.
• Italy.  An architect in hard-hit Italy has a plan to create two-person COVID-19 treatment spaces from shipping containers. Another effort has converted a ferry in Genoa into a hospital with 25 beds in single cabins that could be expanded to hold 400 beds.
• Ecuador. Shut its borders down for three weeks and is evacuating all tourists and non-residents from the Galapagos Islands to cut Darwin’s paradise off from the rest of the world.
• Hungary. Parliament voted to give Prime Minister Victor Orban unlimited power to rule by decree and suspended parliament and all elections. Anyone who spreads anything the government deems to be “fake news” will be jailed for 5 years.

No Money, No Water

Inequities between the haves and have nots are apparent in the United States, where minority populations appear to be more susceptible to COVID-19, and around the globe. According to NBC News, “Lockdowns are fine for the rich, but millions are too poor to shelter from coronavirus.” In addition, many countries don’t have access to water for handwashing, one of the best defenses available. In India, for inxtance, National Geographic reports only one fifth of all households have piped running water in a nation of 1.3 billion under lockdown.

Authoritative Links to Track Coronavirus

While coronavirus data is ubiquitous, several sources stand out in their ability to comprehensively but understandably convey the information about the status and spread of the disease.

• New York Times - Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count
• John Hopkins University – COVID-19 Dashboard
• Esri - COVID-19 Maps, resources, and insights
• WorldoMeter - COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic

COVID-19 and the Environment

Who would have expected the coronavirus crisis to change the environment? Well it has in several ways, at least temporarily.

• Vibrations. The Royal Observatory of Belgium reports vibrations from cars, trucks, and industrial machinery have fallen by about one-third since lockdown orders were implemented, letting seismologists better detect smaller earthquakes and more closely monitor volcanic activity.” The drop is also being experienced in both London and Los Angeles.
• Carbon Emissions. Numerous reports have tried to estimate the reduction in carbon emissions because of the coronavirus. One four-week reduction of 25 percent was reported in China. The Global Carbon Project at Stanford estimates that emissions in 2020 could fall by five percent for the year. To meet climate change goals, The United Nations in November 2019 estimated average reductions of 7.6 percent each year are required, and economists agree shutting down the economy isn’t the way to do it.
• Water. Given the number of people working from home and the way virtual online meetings are supplanting in-person meetings, data centers are seeing increased demand. These centers consume millions of gallons of water for cooling and power generation daily, often in arid regions of the southwest where supplies are already tight. On the other side of the coin, businesses closing and jobless customers who can’t pay their bills or pay them late will have an impact on some water utilities who will need to increase rates to meet expenses.