In a lot of ways, the word ‘success’ has been redefined over the past year and a half. Not permanently – many events rocked the world before COVID-19 and others will undoubtedly come and go in the future, and in a few years, this period of time will just be another strange memory. Temporarily, though, there is a very different feel in the air: like in the aftermath of market crashes and wars, ‘success’ feels less like a flaunting of opulent victories, and more like watching the dust settling and saying “Phew – we got through it. How
are you?”
As we spoke with our feature companies for this month’s magazine, this is exactly what we were talking about – getting through it. How did companies adapt and endure? What lasting lessons have been learnt, or useful innovations finally been put into place? Have we gotten through it? Are we still getting through it?
As many of us are all too aware, we’re not in the all-clear just yet. Pandemic measures are still very much in place for much of the world, and as for when we do all fully return to work again, we’re still working out what that world will look like, both in terms of the patterns and priorities of the ‘new normal’, and in seeing just how many companies didn’t make it to the other side. What will our economies look like world-wide? It’s uncertain, and we’re still waiting to find out. But, in the meantime, I hope we’re all finding ways to ‘get through it’, in one sphere or another.
