Making Sense of the Post-Pandemic Future

MORE THAN TWO YEARS into the pandemic, we’re in a moment when both leaders and employees are trying to make sense of how the experience has changed them and imagining what comes next.

- LYNDA GRATTON

In a webinar I led in early February with 250 people from over 100 companies around the world, many leaders expressed that they are feeling “betwixt and between” the certainties of the past and the unknowns of the future.

Three messages came through loud and clear. The first is that in this time of sensemaking, individuals right now are looking inward — working through the impact of their changing habits, networks, and skills, and beginning to imagine other life trajectories and possible selves.

The second message is that leaders and the organizations they manage are looking outward more than usual — analyzing how talent markets are changing and what their competitors are doing. This is creating momentum and a force for change, but also frustration and anxiety, given institutional lag. Leaders are worried about inertia holding their companies back.

The third message is that as this momentum for change is growing, it is those individuals and organizations that are acting now that will pave the way and become role models for everyone else.

The Inward/Outward Dichotomy

I’ve been struck by how deeply individuals have taken their experiences of the past two years and used them to look inward.

Take John, a team leader in one of the financial companies I’ve been studying. He is not alone in telling me, “I feel like I am beginning to change who I am. I don’t commute anymore to the office every day, I’ve spent less time with my colleagues and more time with my neighbors, and I’ve surprised myself with my digital skills — in fact, the whole team is using virtual collaborative tools in new ways.”