2020 takeaway: Extraordinary ingenuity
Time and time again, human ingenuity proves to be extraordinary despite unintended and intended obstacles. This past year has proven the point and the months ahead will continue to do so. Sadly, countless lives have been ruined in the wake of Covid-19 through either the virus itself or the result of dealing with it. We may never know the actual consequences of the virus because of incalculable ripple effects, but we do know that when given autonomy, the human spirit responds, creates, builds, and most importantly adapts. We should embrace this point for inspiration.
There’s no shortage of documentaries highlighting American success stories—from a ragtag army pulling off a revolution for independence against the most powerful military on earth to innovative chocolatiers finding success in filling a void for provisions during The Great Depression. Similarly, historians will one day highlight individuals who retrofitted their businesses to respond to the sudden shift in consumerism in 2020. They will describe the speed and efficiency with which the healthcare industry prepared and partnered with other industries to meet the need for more beds, PPE, ventilators, medicine, and of course a vaccine. They will document the extremes to which small business owners went to keep their establishments open and employees working. Historians will connect the dots between thriving enterprises and the risk takers who created those businesses during a time of extreme uncertainty.
Sure, future history books will also illustrate the devastation of the virus, the lockdowns, and the political unrest. Just as we read about countless pivotal points in human history, our descendants will read about the early 21st Century and the virus that plagued nations around the world, comparing how each nation reacted, responded, and rebounded.
As the story is still being fleshed out, we in America still have the ability to affect positive outcomes, individually and organizationally. We have done it before and will do it again. You built your success. You amended your business or career as needed. You persevered. You made more accommodations than you ever thought possible. You helped others in their time of need physically, financially, and with moral support. You persisted and persevered some more.
Stories about 2020 will be numerous. They will motivate, depress, anger, inspire, panic, sadden, and perplex. Regardless the emotion, the stories will be documented for the purpose of teaching generations to come, just as we have been taught by the stories of ingenious people who navigated similar and more severe challenges. There is reason to be optimistic.
More than symbolism of a new dawn, the new calendar year is a reminder that new opportunities are as limitless as our imaginations. We can dwell on this past year and be stifled or use it as a springboard. You built it once, you will build it again. It won’t be easy but it can be done because human ingenuity is extraordinary.
