It’s Time to Live Again
It’s been frustrating to listen to some of the either/or thinking that’s crossing my desk of late — both personal and professional. I’m seeing people lose important distinctions at a time when we need them most.
Let’s start with the talent equation. Just about EVERY leader I speak with is talking about the Great Resignation and the impact it’s having. High up on the list is talent retention in the sales function and engineering — especially engineering, where an already scarce group of people is getting harder and harder to both keep and find. We’ve published practices that companies are using to manage, but sometimes it boils down to something as simple as this quote from one of our internal analysts and her dialog with the market:
“One of my mentees (a mid-career woman with kids) just went from a company that insisted that everyone go back into the office to another competitor that didn’t. I have come to believe that how companies handle their post-pandemic plans reveals a lot about how nimble they are in general. An organization that wants to go back to how things were without realizing that they aren’t like that any longer just isn’t likely to adapt quickly to shifting market conditions.”
Out of the mouths of analysts… Sometimes it really is as basic as this.
I hear leaders lament talent issues and then, in the next breath, insist on everyone coming back. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s about giving up either/or — whether that’s about vaccines, no vaccines, or back-to-office vs. WFH.
We live in a hybrid world now, one that is ever more digital and ever more complicated. What we have to do most is to respect each other’s choices. That said, hybrid means sometimes digital, sometimes physical. It doesn’t mean mixing media. Try holding a meeting with some folks remote and some in a physical room — it doesn’t work, and it just stinks for everyone.
So, we have to use common sense and make sure we bring people in when it makes sense but give them flexibility in and around those times. And give them choices if they don’t want to come back, which is fine, too. Any employer who wants people back in the office 100% “just because” will send great talent flying out the door.
Many are insisting on vaccines because of the information markets they cover and serve. Others are doing so because the government is a major client and business is at risk when government mandates arrive (and they have) about vaccinating employees or risking business with Uncle Sam. Not saying it’s right, but it’s the world we’re in.
We got our vaccines and boosters, so if we caught COVID-19, our cases would be mild and we’d stay out of the hospital and avoid death. We didn’t get them so we wouldn’t get the disease — the vaccines don’t quite work that way. They minimize our risk.
Even recognizing that vaccinated people can also be asymptomatic carriers, people run around hyperventilating about being with others who aren’t vaccinated — whoever they might be and wherever they are — rather than realizing we got the vaccines for a reason. It’s time to regain some normalcy rather than pillory people who have made different choices, whether we agree with them or not. You got a vaccine, and you boostered up. What difference does it make if someone you’re around is vaccinated or not? You could be the carrier!
So go back to work, in your home and your office when it makes sense, keep your distance, wash your hands, and forget about who is vaccinated and who is not. It’s time to get back on the road a bit, travel more, take some trips to see family or colleagues, and quit treating people like they are wearing scarlet letters.
Common sense has gone out the window. More either/or… I’m around vaccinated people only. Silly. Some people want to work from home because it’s easier for them. Let ’em. Some want to go to the office. Let ’em. Some want flexibility — make that work, too. Sweeping mandates don’t work anymore. We can’t stay indoors for the rest of our lives, especially as all the signs point to COVID becoming endemic and a phenomenon we’ll live with for the rest of our lives — unless there is a vaccine to eradicate it, which isn’t in sight near as I can see. We also can’t rail against who hasn’t done something we think they should. Life doesn’t work that way, and we might disagree with people’s choices, but they are theirs to make.
It’s time to live again, folks. Be careful. Be cautious. Be mindful. But remember, no one is ever entirely safe. We can cross streets, get in cars, ride bikes, or take hikes and they all come with their risks. Life is that way, so we are going to have to live with this risk whether we go back to work, work from home, visit our relatives, or celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Ramadan.
It’s been two years since this sucker started, and it’s time to live with it and move on. As for me? I’m enjoying Thanksgiving in a well ventilated restaurant. I’m having my family of 14 over for Christmas dinner with a few sliding doors open and lots of great food and drink. I’m not asking who is vaccinated and who is not because it’s no one’s business. We will consider our all-hands meeting for January, taking our team’s temperature on what they want to do and likely let those who want to come F2F do so and those that don’t stay home. I won’t penalize those that don’t come, but I also won’t have a hybrid meeting where distant voices are on speakerphone or fuzzy, mediocre video trying to span time zones 8 hours wide.
And we’ll begin getting clients together next year, inviting them all and letting those who wish to come do so. We’ll follow good protocols, and we’ll open our doors. It’s time to get back on planes and do so wisely. It’ll never be the same. We will probably be wearing masks for the rest of our lives when it comes to travel, but we’re vaccinated, washing our hands, keeping some distance, and now it’s time to get back into the world without the agita and angst or the either/or.