There are a lot of boundaries that will be shifted from now on, most of them have not yet occurred to most of us, and some of them will change in such a way its mind blowing.
In some cases they will bring back old ways of doing things, and in other cases they will force us to totally adapt to new ways of how we live our life, and conduct our business.
Going back to as it was is no longer an option, and if you think it is, well that’s ok, it’s a normal reaction to change, it will only take you a bit longer than others to adapt.
Ever heard about the change curve? Well, basically it gives you an understanding of the voyage through change, and the different states of mind you will pass through.
Denial, anger, frustration, once you let go of them and realize its part of your journey it opens up the door you need to go trough to get going again.
If you are in management or if you are managing clients I am sure you have had time to rethink if the change curve will have any impact on you or not.
From my point of view it will definitely impact all of us either directly or indirectly no matter if you are under pressure or not for the time being.
It’s also interesting to see how companies do react or don’t react in these times of crisis, I am actually amazed over some companies that are just waiting while their competitors are up and about doing all sort of interesting things.
Some of them are really negotiation their way forward in uncharted waters and using different creative ways to get passed difficulties and obstacles in their way.
In some cases its just brilliant how they redefine boundaries and obstacles especially when someone says no to them.
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Tonight, I saw on the news about that flights to Greece with SAS and TUI has started while Apollo is questioning why SAS and TUI are allowed to fly and not Apollo.
I can actually hear SAS and TUI ask the Greece authorities “ Under what circumstances would you be able to say yes to what we need or are asking for”?
If you don’t ask you don’t get, If you repackage your proposal to address the needs and restrains, then there is a higher possibility they will say yes to whatever you are offering.
If you only ask, when can we fly again or go back to do as before, the answer will probably stay “never” for quite a while at least.
The explanation given by Greece authorities on the news was that only 30 % was tourists from Sweden, the majority was staff, journalists and employees.
This little drizzle of water will soon be converted to a stream and later into a river, but is it sustainable in the end or are they in need of a new concept?
I am sure Apollo is now asking to do the same, but probably will get either the same answer or that they have to wait and see how things develop over a couple of weeks.
So when can you start to sell or buy or do whatever you are doing again, or are you also waiting on that everything will slowly open up again?
Well, a Senior colleague of mine wrote a white paper a while back with the heading “ Hope is not a strategy”. It is still better to have a plan even if it is a poor plan.
My advice to you is to get creative and start to brainstorm on how your business will look in 1-3 years, and maybe what a new competitor would do in your market.
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History is full of Black Svans and successful new business ideas, I am sure there are an new AirBnB or a new UBER or whatever out there, in every industry, that might impose on your business soon.
Way back when Jan Calzon ran SAS, back in the 1980 he had an idea that SAS should offer a total package everything from hotels to flights, it didn’t work out so well back then.
But business opportunities is sometimes about timing, spotting the moment when there is a window of opportunity.
Due to the circumstances in Asia a family member of mine has to stay in quarantine for 14 days before leaving China and then once in Sweden she has to stay at least a week in quarantine in Sweden.
More or less a month in quarantine just to get here, and then it is not curtain she can return to China, and if she could, it would take at least the a month in quarantine to return.
If these kind of travel restrictions will continue, I wonder if it would not be a better idea to take a slow boat back to Europe, as in the old days from Asia.
A month on a cruiser, better than staying on a hotel if you ask me, you tell me what would you prefer, if you must travel and it would take you a month in quarantine to get there?
If you ever been to Venice, there is an island outside Venice where ship crews, in the past, had stay on and be quarantined for 14 days before entering Venice.
Sometimes old ideas can resurrect your business and be used again, sometimes they have to be invented again. We are adapting to new times, hope you are doing it too.
Stay safe
Christopher Bell Blomquist
Managing director Scotwork Sweden
BellBlomquist Consulting.
www.scotwork.se