Wei-ji, the Chinese character for crisis is actually two symbols. The first means danger. The second means opportunity.

Clearly, we are in the midst of multiple crises. And there is no denying there is danger. But what are the opportunities?

I don’t mean Pollyanna pseudo-positivity. But real, concrete opportunities. Like it or not, this is where we are. Lots of this is out of our control and we would never have chosen this. But we’ve got it. So what can we do with it?

For one friend, it’s helping get masks made and to where they need to be cost effectively. A business that would have made no sense six months ago.

What opportunities does this dangerous time create for you? New relationships. New ways of doing things. New skills. Revisiting core strengths. Building flexibility into work for the long haul.

I think for my teams, remote is here to stay. Biweekly meetings that build in creativity are here to stay. So is being off the road and off stages. It’s not just about moving from the stage to the screen. It’s about how else we can deliver the same value. Maybe that is the screen. Maybe it’s more individualized conversations.

And what else needs to change to make all that work? Six months ago, we would have thought vaccine development took years. And it used to. Until Pfizer and others started changing the process from sequential and one step at a time to trying multiple things at the same time. What can we do differently on purpose to get the results we seek?

Let me know what you think.

Julie