For all of the memes about what a tough year it’s been — and there’s some truth behind the punch lines — we should not lose sight of the opportunities that come from all this disruption.
Transformational Change
For businesses, digital transformation is happening faster than ever before. Changes that would take years to unroll in the pre-pandemic world have happened in months, and many of them are here to stay, from remote working to the delivery of new products and services — and all of the operational, security and technical accommodations that follow.
The New Normal
It’s difficult to tell whose demands have mattered more — consumers adjusting to a new reality or businesses trying to stay ahead of them — but as a McKinsey Global Survey of executives found in October, the lessons are clear:
- The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the digitization of customer interactions by several years.
- Executives said their companies responded to challenges more quickly than they thought possible before the crisis.
- Executives’ beliefs about the strategic importance of technology have changed radically — especially at companies with declining revenues.
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New Year, New Knowledge
You may be all too ready for the holidays — and the calendar’s change to 2021. You also may not know exactly what comes next. How will event-based businesses fare in a world where customers are more worried about their safety than they are about FOMO? How will your workforce assimilate after months of working from home?
How will you keep from trying to go back to the way things used to be?
So what do we know from what we have learned?
In a business climate where our biggest worry is that we don’t know what we don’t know, it’s important to take inventory of the things we do know.
- We know there is great power in collaboration, with one another, and with our partners.
- We know there is value in our experience.
- We know that we have grown as a result of every challenge that has come our way.
We are grateful for the opportunity to work with you as our world evolves, and we are confident that together, we will define new solutions that serve more people in a more meaningful way. We wish you a peaceful holiday season — and we look forward to building great things with you in 2021 and beyond.
Phillip Blackmon is CEO of Lifeblue. Sign up here to get his insights in your inbox. Follow Lifeblue on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
