Gather Your Firewood
By: Olga Kouzina
Tags: Communication, Startup, Strategy, Tech, Leadership

Hi everyone!

Time goes by… not at all slowly these days. It swooshes as briskly as a meteor does, catching us in the swirl of the events that we couldn’t even conjure up at the start of the leap year 2020.

I recall how the news about “a virus in China” first trickled its way into the mainstream some time in late January, shortly before the Chinese New Year. A month later, we’re witnessing how the whole globe — or those parts of the globe that possess the privilege of expressing themselves via the shared online/offline info channels — is engulfed in the latest developments of what by now is matter-of-factly dubbed as “COVID-19”.

In fact, I’m so sorry for us, humans, and for the ways of how helpless and fragile we are in the face of information that we let ourselves be exposed to. Picture this. There’s a kid, a toddler, or a baby, wearing a red, or blue, or whatever color outfit. This toddler is friendly, and curious, and loving, and it believes that whatever the world brings to them, serves them for their good. And, out of their naivete, they open themselves and listen to some insidious creature, disguised as their grandma.

I’ve watched my own reaction to those developments in the news. We’re all in this together, and while some might have resorted to the ostrich first-aid safety strategy, I’ve chosen to observe what happens and where the information streams are headed. And — since we’re here for the takeaways as related to our work in tech — let me share some of the trends and patterns I’ve identified by now. Most importantly, what can we actually do about the challenges that might come our way as a consequence of COVID-19? By now, asking this question might have proven an excellent survival strategy in itself, because if we’re not doing and thinking positively with the goal of addressing a challenge, all that’s left is succumb to fear. And, as a renowned politician of a bygone era has famously said: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.

Astronaut Susan Helms gathers firewood during winter survival training.

… and we are free to go forage for our survival firewood, figuratively speaking. What would our tech “survival firewood” would be, one might ask? Take a closer look at the info nuggets re: tech companies and start-ups in the context of coronavirus. We can group those nuggets as follows:

Conferences and public events are cancelled, with some companies choosing to run those events online (I bet you’ve seen those news for yourselves, so I’m not citing the minutiae). Company A in the city X or company B in the city Y tells their employees to work from home wherever possible citing coronavirus concerns. A company C’s employee tests positive for coronavirus so they notify their staff of what is being done to contain the hazards, e.g. sanitization of the office, etc. etc. And, as much as I’d want to keep these bullet items in the abstract — because there’s been enough fear or even panic spread by now — after some wagering I thought I’d provide an actual reference because, to me, the way this company handles the challenge by keeping their employees informed in an async way is worth making a note of. And, as of the time of this writing, they have issued another update for the employees. Let me re-iterate that I’m linking to those references with one goal in mind: to showcase how some people in tech gather their “survival firewood”. Companies A, B, C, D are moving their job interviews online, citing the virus concerns. Tech and non-tech businesses and countries which rely on tourism and logistics are most likely to be affected economically because the media keep saying that for the next 3 — 3+ months, the world will hold off on travel due to the virus concerns. This is just one of many examples. More businesses will be affected, of course. Citing all the possible cases would require a thorough analysis of the global business/economical/cultural/political ties, and doing that wouldn’t be my goal, for now :) *ironic*

… and on it goes.

The epidemics/pandemics are as old as our civilization is. Go no further as to my previous post, where I cited an historical anecdote about cholera in the 19th century. Heh, in fact, as I was working on the post the “coronavirus” snowball hadn’t yet gained as much momentum as it did by now. Here’s another historical brief, if you will, about the plague and Paracelsus, the physician. While everyone was stricken with fear and panic, with lots of people dying, Paracelsus was the one who chose to focus on bringing help to people, rather than spreading fear. And he didn’t contract the plague.

We are no physicians, but here’s what we can do:

— re-group and re-orient our focus from the effects of exposure to the news a la “conferences cancelled, such and such country has registered its first coronavirus case”, etc. etc. to preparedness. What would preparedness mean for tech? Of course, any org or business that hinges on tourism, directly or indirectly, will need to course-correct, depending on the impact (see some articles in Further reading below). Plus, as a think pad, you might want to check the results of this Google search.

Next. What can we do to make sure that our org/company is properly equipped for working remotely, should such a need arise? Some clues can be found in my earlier posts e.g. The Dietitians of Info-Sharing, Cut Yourself Some Slack from Slack, How Communication Factors In To Production, Getting Closer With Remote as well as in the others listed below in Related). The world of those who work in the office is very different from the world of those who work remotely. Some things — such as a friendly watercooler chat, or a quick exchange, or personal one-on-ones, or even the posters citing company values — are readily available to us in our offices. And we take them for granted. However, should a need be, are we well-equipped to maintain an async online space of shared culture and shared values? The space where we are driven to, like a thirsty person who craves for a water well? The space that fills us with the sense of belonging and being in all of this together?

Apart from culture and communication, there’s a purely technical side, of course. What can or should we do, if need be, to adapt our infrastructure for remote work? How fast can we do that? Are we ready for that?

Here’s one more takeaway. We can project all we want, but some things in life are just… tectonic. Uncontrollable neither by our will, nor effort. Earthquakes and pandemics — or pandemic threats — care little of what our plans have been before they strike. The question is: are we earthquake-proof by design, the way some temples in Asia are, personally and collectively? Those temples, the pagodas, they’ve got the gigantic rods which go all the way through the construction, from bottom to top, as they hold the building together and safeguard it from collapsing. Japan is particularly famous for those pagodas because this part of the globe is much prone to earthquakes. Yet, the pagodas withstand. And, from what I know, this nation

pays much attention to earthquake preparedness, in a thoughtful way. They do the earthquake drills, and everyone knows what to do exactly when an earthquake strikes. Preparedness is the key. As well as adaptability and wise thinking… and, of course, communication!

Related:

Till AI Do Us Part

How Communication Factors In To Production

Getting Closer With Remote

Cut Yourself Some Slack from Slack

The Dietitians of Info-Sharing

What’s Wrong With Your Questions?

The Awkward Elephants

The Human-Speak Wizardry

Quantify Or Wordify?

Value vs. Productivity In Software Development Teams

The Vocal Villains and The Silent Fears

References/further reading:

Little Red Riding Hood (Wikipedia)

Ostriches Don’t Hide Theirs Heads In The Sand

First inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt (Wikipedia)

Survivalism (Wikipedia)

The coronavirus outbreak could mean no summer vacations this year

Coronavirus outbreak forces China’s start-ups to rethink their priorities

Paracelsus (Wikipedia)

Shinbashira (Wikipedia)

New Videos Capture Asteroid’s Daytime Mid-Air Explosion After Hitting Earth

8 Mental Habits to Defeat Fear, Worry, and Anxiety