About two years into the global SARS-CoV 2 (COVID19) pandemic and the following assumption may sound self-evident: we are all pretty much wrung out.
Personally, I can barely muster the energy to think about all the continuing risks of infection, let alone channel it into sustainable action. So you want to maintain social distancing? Fine. You step back. I can no longer mentally gauge what the requisite 1.5 metres looks like.
And it's no exaggeration to suggest we (that is, all of us - all over the world) were wholly unprepared for what was to come, as we were unceremoniously thrust into this viral arena way back when. All of a sudden we found ourselves negotiating the 'where-tos' and 'why-fors' of a game whose rules were not written. The game itself, in fact, has presented progressively higher stakes (more often than not, a literal life or death proposition) but the game-play was never settled. We looked around in increasingly panicked expectation for some guidance, some clue, some notion, of how we should conduct ourselves. But there was no lasting agreement on how this game was to be played, with many proffering contradictory strategies that often suited their own political or economic ends, sometimes even gambling with the health of a larger populace, often the same ones looking for that guidance.
"It became clear... whatever had allowed us to successfully scale those lofty heights was going to be of little use now..."
What has made this position of uncertainty even more untenable and harder to bear is that many of us felt we'd had glimpses of similar games in the recent past (SARS, H1N1, MERS, Zika and yes, even the continuing challenges with Ebola). But it became abruptly clear that whatever had allowed us to successfully scale those lofty heights was going to be of little use now (at least, to those who aren't virologists or epidemiologists). We had, in effect, no playbook.
And so, driven as humanity is by a Darwinian compulsion for survival, we began to write one. However, despite the fact this pandemic has been a common human affliction, context is still everything, and geopolitics made sure there was never going to be 'the One' playbook. No singularity here, but a fractal splintering of approaches, advice, strategies, messaging and, ultimately, embodied experiences.
This splintering has generated grueling cognitive, psychological and social loads for all involved. Not only are we faced with making up our moves as we go, but now the existence of multiple playbooks all across the globe suggests there is no clear, linear path out of this Dantean nightmare.
And yet, there's more...
Yes, we're writing our playbook for surviving the pandemic as we go, as we uncover more information through a confluence of science and our daily, salutary experiences. And yes, we also have to make decisions on which playbook[s] we are going to follow. For a little while that was a decision gratefully ceded to governments and public health experts. But that has been changing for some time now, especially where a ruling political party leans toward notions of small government and personal freedoms. The choice, we are more frequently advised, is one of personal responsibility.
But this is where things get even knottier. The 'accepted' playbook keeps changing. No sooner have we committed its guidelines and strictures to heart than those very rules morph into something very different, perhaps even in direct conflict to previous advice. Basically, when it comes to navigating our responses to the pandemic we have all been co-opted into The Matrix, with it's fluid landscapes and shape-shifting scenarios. Everything new is old again, and must be re-written. It doesn't stop. It's exhausting.
These past couple of years have served up some of the most salient examples of real-world complexity I have ever experienced (and I'm sure I'm not alone in that sentiment). Whether we like it or not, we have moved from complexity as theory to a much more conscious, daily existential wrestle. Furthermore it is not a fleeting experience. It is now firmly embedded in our expectations, like the rising and setting of the sun.
And before this post gets away from me, there was a reason why I chose to put these reflections down. This existential complexity is very much the canvas on which we are all creating our lives.
The practice of Leadership does not escape this new world building. Whether or not you are in a formal or recognised position of authority, we are all faced with the dawning reality that the 'Leadership Playbook' we may have clung to in the past might be little more than a relic, even as we are putting the finishing touches on its final pages.
Practising leadership in this emerging reality will require a different set of muscles. And building that muscularity, the capacity to exercise practical wisdom in the face of a black hole of uncertainty, is going to be a critical skill if we are to make sense of our work, our relationships and our many pursuits in life. Of course, there's no guarantee this new set of muscles is going to help us when confronted with the next global crisis. But we can write that playbook when we get to it.
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