CV-19 naturally dominates the news at present – it’s all ‘doom and gloom’ as we wonder if the damned invisible bug will ‘get us’ or not
We’re told there are computer models (so they must be right?) being used by experts to determine their advice on what we all should do, the aim being to slow the spread of the bug so the capacity of the NHS to provide intensive care is not exceeded – but the experts clearly don’t have a formula which offers an exact picture of what’s happening, or likely to happen, so my guess is they must be playing all sorts of ‘what if’ games with the limited info they do have
And, whilst current forecasts suggest the UK peak could be 2-3 weeks away (i.e. around mid-end April), it could be many more weeks before it falls to zero and an ‘all clear’ is sounded – with the potential for rebounds if we ‘unlock’ too early
We can only hope that some bright spark, somewhere in the world, has a serendipitous moment and, Fleming-like, produces a panacea vaccine for CV-19 and any other variants further down the line – then we can get back to focusing on the other ‘biggest peace-time issue’ facing all nations – PRODUCTIVITY
As a start, trying to be positive and counter the doom and gloom, consider what good news CV-19 might have brought in its wake
A few ‘top-of-head’ thoughts include:
- A huge kick-start to the new 21c mentalist world taking over from the old 20c materialist world – currently, we’re at a global watershed
- A massive change in attitude towards our fellow men and women, locally, nationally and internationally – less greed, less ‘I’m alright Jack’ attitudes and less worship of money and fame – more kindness, more caring for others and more appreciation of what really matters in life
- A quantum leap, at long last, in the use of technology for home working – far less commuting, far less pollution, far less expensive office space needed, far more productive hours per employee, far better employee motivation through a better work/ social life balance
- A giant leap towards Keynes’ 15 hour week, and far less working 50+ hour weeks, suddenly seems more likely in the next few years – underpinned by most of the current dull, dirty or dangerous work plus much junior and middle-management work being done by robots and AI (Artificial Intelligence) instead – it’s results that count, not hours input
- A massive change in the way we buy and sell goods and services – far more home deliveries and dealing over the internet – far less need for high street shops and branches
- Far less business travel needed to ‘press flesh’ at meetings and seal deals – video-conferencing is already becoming the norm for many
- And there’s undoubtedly many others which will affect our standard of living and quality of lives
MORE GOOD NEWS
One good example of a company gearing up for this new 21c mentalist world is Tata Steel, one of the top global steel companies
The other day, it was announced that Tata Steel had been selected for the 2020 honours list for ‘Excellence in Knowledge Management’ by the Houston (US)-based American Productivity & Quality Centre (APQC).
The annual award recognises Tata Steel’s global standard in systems and processes created and practised for its KM (Knowledge Management) capabilities.
The quality of KM is a critical discipline that decides an organisation’s ability to create, share, use, and manage knowledge and information – more importantly, it is also a measure of the organisation’s ability to retain and leverage knowledge and information that may otherwise be lost when employees change jobs.
Avneesh Gupta, Vice President, Tata Steel, said: ‘Knowledge and information are important assets in any organisation, and like physical and financial assets, requires conscious management – it is imperative to enable structured and quality knowledge management practices to drive business continuity and excellence.
We are proud to receive the recognition of excellence from APQC. This recognition will further motivate us in our continued pursuit to strengthen the management of organisational knowledge, steering us ahead towards creating a passion for learning.’
Dr. Carla O’Dell, Chairman, CEO, APQC, said: ‘All of the award winners generate impactful results through sustainable knowledge management programs.’
Founded in 1977 by business leader and innovator Jack Grayson, APQC, a non-profit organisation, is the world’s foremost authority in benchmarking, best practices, process and performance improvement and knowledge management.
APQC provides information, data, and insights for organisations to work smarter, faster, and with greater confidence. They provide independent, unbiased, and validated research & data to their more than 550 members in 45 industries worldwide. Their members have exclusive access to the world’s largest set of benchmark data, with more than two million data points.
In my view, having visited the APQC at their Houston HQ, they are a model for all other NPCs (National Productivity Centres) to emulate
N.B. Most G7 and G20 nations are wise enough to have set up their own NPC – the glaring exception is the UK!