An article by Andy Crouch is getting some attention. He described the COVID-19 pandemic as “an economic and cultural blizzard, winter, and beginning of a ‘little ice age’ — a once-in-a-lifetime change that is likely to affect our lives and organizations for years” and not something we just need to endure until we can get back to normal. He argued “The priority of leaders must be to set aside confidence in their current playbook as quickly as possible, write a new one that honors their mission and the communities they serve, and make the most of their organization’s assets — their people, financial capital, and social capital, leaning on relationship and trust.”
Key points:
- The pandemic isn’t like a blizzard we just need to endure until it’s over.
- We need to prepare for worse because “even as we weather the current blizzard, and convince others that a blizzard is upon us, all of us should be preparing for a winter in which countless aspects of our society are reconfigured.”
- Another prospect is that of an ice age. Recalling the history Little Ice that lasted 300 years, Crouch pointed out the 18 month duration in producing a vaccine. That’s longer than a blizzard and winter season.
Why is this important?
- If the disruption keeps us from educating children effectively (according to one education theorist, children who don’t get a chance to learn how to read well between the ages of 7 and 9 never acquire fluency in reading), there could be long term cultural and human negative impact.
- Flattening the curve means we’ll also extend the curve. In other words, the disease will remain for a longer period until the population develops general immunity or a vaccine is developed.
- The extended time period also means economic disruption will go on longer.
How should we then live?
- Crouch maintains “most leaders must recognize that the business they were in no longer exists.”
- The first step is realizing “If your nonprofit organization depends on gathering people in medium or large groups — and it is truly daunting to consider how many do, whether for fundraising banquets, afterschool programs, or in the case of churches for corporate worship — you are not in the same business today.”
- AS a result, “You have to build a fundamentally new deck [the set of Powerpoint slides that describes what your organization does and how it does it] that reflects the new realities of the community you serve, and the tools that are available to you today.”
- As you rethink your organization, you need to go back to the foundation, the “one paramount resource that by the grace of God may still be available, which is trust.”
- The foundation of trust means “the people who will help you chart the course toward fulfilling your mission in the coming years are the people who you have the deepest trust with today — those currently on mission with you. And so all the efforts of leadership right now come down to maintaining and mobilizing trust.”
- Leaders have a particularly tough job because “Trust is also built through one of the hardest tasks of leadership: taking steps to reduce costs and manage cash flow, so that the enterprise can survive.”
In general, Crouch presents the challenge of “nested, interconnected realities — as leaders we must react swiftly to the blizzard that is already upon us, and pivot to survive the inevitable winter under severe conditions, and reimagine our organizations to outlast the rigors of a possible little ice age” and realizing “that their organization’s survival in weeks and months, let alone years, depends far more on radical innovation than on tactical cutbacks.”