2020 has undeniably been one of the most disruptive years in decades. Against the backdrop of the global corona-virus pandemic, the events of 2020 have brought with them new challenges and changes to the way we live, work, and socialise. From the ever-present public health crisis and its dramatic effects on our global communities, mental health, and businesses, to the emergence of climate change as an urgent topic of conversion in corporate boardrooms, to a watershed moment in racial and social justice; 2020 has brought more change, at a faster pace, than many of us could have imagined just 12 months ago. If the global events of 2020 don’t make it one of the most remarked upon years of the early 21st century, it doesn’t bear thinking about what events might trump them in coming decades.
If you could go back to 1st January 2020, what advice would you give yourself? - “Buy shares in Zoom.” Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
If you could go back to 1st January 2020, what advice would you give yourself? - “Be prepared for the unexpected”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
As we come to the end of this strangest of years, we thought that for our December Bromford Lab Twitter Chat, it would be good to reflect on the year that past and look ahead to the next 12 months and beyond. As usual, we asked participants four questions over the course of an hour:
What has surprised you most during the past year?
What has challenged you most during the past year?
If you could go back to 1st January 2020, what advice would you give yourself?
What are you going to carry forward into 2021?
Unsurprisingly perhaps, the topic of conversation touched upon some increasingly familiar themes; themes which my colleagues and I have also worked closely with over the past 12 months.
New ways of working
The huge challenges brought about by the events of 2020 have conversely led to some equally huge opportunities. History tells us that a crisis is good for innovation, and for the first time, many of us have witnessed this first hand; when faced with an existential crisis such as corona-virus, innovation occurs rapidly. The overnight shifts many organisations made to home working, whilst sometimes not perfect, have highlighted that what many thought impossible, simply wasn’t - and whilst there is widespread acknowledgement that enforced home working should not be compared to a considered remote working policy, it’s hard to believe that after only 9 months or so, the world of work is unlikely to ever return to how it was pre-lockdown.
What has surprised you most during the past year? - “How quickly we’d get accustomed to video calls (which were a nightmare to arrange pre-covid). Also the strength of feeling that some people have for the (return to) the office. I’m really interested in this”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
What has surprised you most during the past year? “Surprised perhaps in the more ‘sarcastic’ sense, that many employers all of a sudden were able to ‘allow’ their staff to work from home and to see that the work actually still got done, I mean, who would have thought!”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
However, in the same way as the ground beneath a felled tree can collapse in on itself as the root systems start to decay, we must be prepared for a similar ‘subsidence’ as hastily implemented systems and structures put in place during the early months of the pandemic start to show signs of stress and strain.
What has challenged you most during the past year? - “We’ve not all been together as a team physically for 260 days. Digital has made our lives interconnected - sharing work, allowing us to collaborate. But the loss of physical connection and the creative spark of being in new environments has been my biggest challenge.” Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
The potential for human-centred design and design thinking to mitigate this subsidence is huge.
What has surprised you most during the past year? - “I think one of the big challenges of 2021/22 will be renewing faith in grassroots innovation after a prolonged period of control and risk management. some will resist loosening grip”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
What are you going to carry forward into 2021? - “Start DOING things without endless debated about the how and when for the entire project. This year showed us that we can do things quickly and solve challenges and problems along the way. The only people who don’t fair are those who don’t even dare to try”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
In the first half of the year, we used our Twitter chat to explore the challenges of collaborating in physically distant workplaces and also worked with colleagues to help define a new set of work principles based on key experiential learning. But the challenges and opportunities are far from over and we must continue to both learn and implement that learning over the coming weeks, months and years.
If you could go back to 1st January 2020, what advice would you give yourself? - “That little bit of office space setup at home last year is about to become ESSENTIAL. Also, buy more monitors. You’re going to need them for remote collaboration/workshops”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
“Some of the things that people dislike about remote work are (I suspect) wrapped up in Covid. This has not been ‘normal’ remote work. I’m excited to explore what comes next when we’re not limited to our homes”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
Health and well-being
Whilst the novelty of home-working in the first quarter of 2020, along with the clement spring weather, may well have contributed towards the excitement and optimism expressed by many in terms of the emergence of a ‘new normal’, the effects of lock-downs, homeschooling, and enforced home working have been experienced in different ways by different people.
If you could go back to 1st January 2020, what advice would you give yourself? “You’re going to attempt to assume the simultaneous roles of husband, parent, teacher and employee. Don’t give yourself a hard time if you’re not smashing it on all fronts”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
If you could go back to 1st January 2020, what advice would you give yourself? “Give more time and space to myself. Well-being is crucially important, and this year has taught us some invaluable lessons about self care. If you can’t look after yourself how are you expected to look after others?”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
According to the latest Mental Health Foundation report, there has been a slow decline in the UK populations’ ability to cope with the stress of the pandemic from 73% in April to 62% in late November. Almost half (45%) of respondents reported that they feel unable to cope with the uncertainty of the pandemic.
What has challenged you most during the past year? “My anxiety and mental health have had a proper blow, especially at the beginning of the year when I was looking for work and of course Covid, but even now back in work, uncertainty and just the sheer dread of life and seeing people/businesses suffer is making me sad”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
The Mental Health Foundation report also suggests that 56% of the UK population said that going for a walk outside helped them cope with the stress of the pandemic in the last two weeks. This has been the top method of coping throughout the study’s eight waves.
What are you going to carry forward into 2021? “ i’ve really appreciated being able to blend work and life. I’ve been able to fit the two around each other in a more harmonious way rather than having to make hard choices about which one wins at the expense of the other”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
What has challenged you most during the past year? “Professionally: Not having the boundaries of my working day. The commute to/from the office would give me clarity to start, stop and switch off. Without that, it’s been harder to be disciplined, often I would log-on early and sometimes not finish until stupidly late”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
It feels clear that mental health and well-being will be one of the key enduring challenges of 2021. For organisations, particularly those working closely with communities, finding ways to surface customer stories in order to better understand the individual needs of those people who make up those communities is now more important than ever.
What has challenged you most during the past year? “I actually didn’t mind lockdown or home-school (although my wife was the real star there). I welcomed a slower more relaxed and local way of life. I found the easing of restrictions a little more challenging to be honest”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
Climate Change
The year started with floods, wildfires, and temperatures for January being 1.13 degrees Celsius (2.05 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 20th-century average and global land and ocean temperatures surpassing all temperatures recorded in the past 141 years of data.
McKinsey suggests that climate change is now firmly established as a senior executive level issue within organisations. This shift up the corporate agenda means that many organisations are now, finally, starting to gain the momentum to tackle climate change. We’ve been helping colleagues define a strategic approach to tackling climate change through our work with the Energy Systems Catapult; it’s led to us gain a much better understanding of the problem and how we might best approach it.
We may have reached a tipping point for climate change, but, whilst Ignoring the issue is no longer an option, as David Attenborough sets out in his 2020 film, A Life on Our Planet, there is still hope if we act now. Climate change will be fixed on our agenda for 2021 and beyond.
Equality and diversity
The Black Lives Matter movement made global headlines following the death of George Floyd in May this year. In spite of lockdowns, the wave of feeling generated by the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer moved an estimated 15 million to attend protests in the most widespread anti-racist demonstrations ever seen in the United States. In the 12 days that followed George Floyd’s death, 80% of the 100 most-viewed videos on Twitter were related to Black Lives Matter and a further 10% were related to race or racism more broadly. In a year of tipping points, and in the midst of a climate crisis and corona-virus pandemic, the vivid story told through the viral video of George Floyd’s tragic final minutes played a major part in raising anti-racism to the top of both governmental and organisational agendas; including our own.
Democracy
The tension of a contested election in the United States caused further social unrest the autumn. Fears of a potential constitutional crisis in the United States added to anxiety levels around the globe, with many commentators predicting such a crisis could be catastrophic for the worldwide reputation of democracy.
We’ve also been thinking about democracy this year in the form of the democratisation of both innovation and design activity at Bromford through the relaunch of Bromford Lab, as well as thinking about how we might design policy that affords communities greater agency over delivering their own outcomes; There is clearly much we can learn from the way communities respond to a crisis like as a global pandemic, and we must continue to explore this during 2021.
What are you going to carry forward into 2021 - “My belief in the power of communities to look out for each other and get stuff done. More than ever, I will try to ensure that the services and policy I design supports communities by delegating resources and decision making to them”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
Looking to the future
From the economic effects and catastrophic loss of life brought on by the corona-virus pandemic to wild-fires and the escalation of the climate crisis, the transformative moments in the Black Lives Matter protests, and a highly contentious US election, 2020 is sure to have already provided some of the most defining moments of the new decade. But, alongside all of the darkness, pain and disbelief, there have also been times of light, unity and hope. Whilst the pandemic may be far from over, the discovery and approval of several new vaccines perhaps suggests that we may have at least reached the end of the beginning.
What are you going to carry forward into 2021? “It ain’t over yet… We need to carry over and amplify things that work. Agility - quickly adapting to what works in the now. Relationships - invest in them. Keep learning - pause and take time to do this. Don’t lose hope…”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
Whilst the true legacy of 2020 may yet still be unclear, there will certainly be lasting changes to the political, environmental, social, technological, legislative, and economic landscape. As we end the year, it’s important that we bid farewell to the negative disruption of 2020 respectfully but also move on by focusing on the positive disruption and transformative advancements that have already started to emerge and will inevitably continue to emerge over the coming months and years.
What are you going to carry forward into 2021? “I’ll continue volunteering. It has been one of the most fulfilling years in that respect, from walking dogs, helping shielding families with their shopping/prescriptions/post, offering governance advice to worthy causes and baking the odd cake (for others!)”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
We must, therefore, continue to explore the future of work and inspire conversations around the potential for digital technology to improve outcomes for our customers, colleagues, business, and society as a whole. We know that the best innovation is often born out of collaboration, so we will continue to build networks and explore new partnerships. In 2020, we've been reminded of the potential for movements to affect social change - change that starts within our own communities. If the chaos of 2020 has taught us one thing it’s that our communities are alive with skills, knowledge, ideas, and activism - we must continue to explore ways to support communities through the creation of equal partnerships as we move forward into 2021.
If you could go back to 1st January 2020, what advice would you give yourself? “On the innovation front likely more organisations are going to have to contend with fewer resources and greater perception of risk. Back to starting small safe to fail experiments rather than BIG projects”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
The way we compile our stories of 2020 will ultimately determine its place in history. Whilst the key themes are likely to be consistent, our own personal stories will be as individual as we are.
What has surprised you most during the past year? “The biggest surprise/non-surprise to me is how - even at a global level - we can fail to read the signals from the past and apply them to the future”. Quote on a grey background from a Twitter user
Thank you to everyone who joined the conversation on Thursday and thank you to everyone who has been part of Bromford Lab Twitter Chats during 2020 - we might provide the hashtag but you provide the conversation.
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Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a healthy, happy and prosperous 2021!