Is the fog lifting?

Recently, I heard the phrase "Covid cloud" about how we've been making decisions in our personal and professional lives. Every choice is filtered with thoughts about Covid's implications for ourselves and others. If you spend just a few minutes thinking about it, you'll realize how many decisions have this filter in them.

Now, I think we're starting to see the beginning to see that "cloud" lift as more people are vaccinated and the severe illness rates are trending down. To me, it feels like when the fog lifts when you're out driving. You're able to start seeing a bit more clearly. You knew what was out there in the fog but couldn't be sure where you really were or if you were moving in the right direction.

I think it's time to start planning life and work, assuming that the fog is lifting. It's time to begin evaluating the best way to do something, knowing what we know now, with the technology resources we have now, and not having Covid be the primary lens. I'm not saying it's not a factor, but as we plan for 2022, we need to start living and working in a new paradigm. We need to decide the best ways to collaborate, the best ways to deliver training sessions or conferences, the best ways to celebrate team milestones, the best ways to onboard new employees.  If you haven't started yet, begin reimagining what the ways of working can be and that overall experience you're trying to create.

We can't just go back to the past. That choice would mean we would have learned nothing from the past 20+ months, and I know we have all learned what is possible, and that will continue to evolve. We need to bring forward what was valued and relevant today and then add what is necessary for today's environment. 

We need to react to what our customers, employees, communities, and families need, want, and, in some cases, are demanding from us as leaders.

We need to start thinking without the fog limiting our ability to see into the future. 

We need to bring forward the lessons we've learned from the past, imagine what the future needs from us, and do the next right thing each day.

I know I'm ready to feel like the fog is lifting. You?