The global coronavirus pandemic and this whole quarantine thing has really got us thinking.
Since the collective shock of no longer having ‘business as usual,’ it seems all of us, cooped up at home, are living on social media. From what we’ve seen, it’s been a mix of everything from truly inspiring and other-focused, to desperate attempts to maintain ‘business as usual.’
This giant wrench in the American economy has revealed something super important.
In an instant, our entire marketplace changed. An entire industry, travel and hospitality was sidelined indefinitely, and like a tsunami, every other industry is still dealing with the wave of seachange.
For restaurants, it has meant a major pivot to takeout and delivery or shutting their doors entirely.
For food supply, packaging, and logistics companies, it has meant a massive, near-overnight, pivot to grocery stores and consumer packaging instead of many restaurants and venues.
For event coordinators, it has meant creating online events and networking opportunities.
In our world of video, it’s meant doing more edits of existing footage and creating animations that don’t require physical presence for a shoot.
Many of us are asking, “How can we survive this market change?” Or “How can our business survive?” But perhaps we’re asking the wrong questions.
Major market shifts like this reveal, in the blink of an eye, vast discrepancies between what we want to offer people and what people actually need. We’re able to immediately see the discrepancy between individuals and companies that are actively asking “What do people around me need?” and those asking “How can I sell what I have?”
In recent news, we’ve seen amazing stories of businesses pivoting to provide essential medical gear that were just days ago manufacturing pillows. Or vacuum businesses pivoting to make ventilators.
It’s inspiring, and it reminds us of what work actually is: it is service to others. It’s the gift of being able to offer our talents, skills, and time to others in a way that brings them value.
And so, instead of asking what we want to deliver to people, perhaps we can ask “How can I help the greatest number of people with my skillset, ideas, and products, right now?”
Which begs the question, if we weren’t asking that question all along, why not?
The work of our hands is a gift, not just to us, but to others.
We’re interested to hear from you about what your needs are and to see if we might be able to help. Feel free to reach out here!