It has been a year since the lock-downs in India started last year with the severity of Covid-19 pandemic. The restrictions were slowly eased in a few months, however lot of practices have changes since as we are getting adjusted to the new normal. And as we are going forward with the vaccinations, few things in our lives, work have changed forever. As many surveys have found out, a lot more people will be working remotely even when the pandemic measures are over.
Patty McCord was the chief talent officer of Netflix for 14 years and she is a strong proponent of building organization culture that thrive on freedom and responsibility. She has also authored a book titled – Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility. In this short talk (~8 mins) she discusses the lesions this pandemic has taught us –
First of all, we learned we’re not family. The family is the toddler walking around behind you in the Zoom call with the pet. The family is somebody needing their diaper changed. The family is making sure you’re taking care of your mom. That’s your family. This is your team. And we’ve also learned that that separation between family and work has become this balancing act.
~ Patty McCord
Do watch it here –
The pandemic experience has been challenging for most of us on several fronts. I have faced a few personal losses myself – some of them are irreversible. Yet, this has been quite a learning experience, and I believe it would change many of us for better. It forced many of us to contemplate what really matters in our life. Here is a small excerpt from McCord’s talk that really appealed to me –
There are things we aren’t doing now that don’t matter. Maybe we don’t need to go back for five levels of approval. Maybe we don’t need to go back and do that annual performance review. Maybe we don’t need to do a whole bunch of things that were part of the way we do business that just aren’t making a difference. You know what? The way we used to do it not only is not the way of the future, but we’re discovering so many wonderful things right now. Let’s not lose it.
~ Patty McCord
I have nothing more to add. I plan to post such small notes, videos, talks discussing the changes, transition that we all would be going through post-pandemic. Do share via comments if you come across something relevant.
Featured Image:
The featured image used for this article is by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay, and I am using it here with gratitude.
