Today, I wish I had a crystal ball or some kind of power to be able to predict what will happen in the next 6 six months, but unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we don't live on Hollywood screens. So all we have to do is analyze the available data and observe macro trends, in order to make a prediction of what the post-COVID-19 world will be like.
In the last decade, in particular, we were experiencing a moment of profound transformations, a wave of never-before-seen changes, named by professor Klaus Schwab in 2010, as the fourth industrial revolution. From the way we buy, entertain ourselves, interact, negotiate, register or move, to name just a few areas, we have witnessed the dematerialization of assets and everything, or practically everything we want and need, has become in the palm of our hands, to one click.
A new era is emerging, that of startups, garage companies that generate market value, previously unimaginable, with very little initial capital, disturbing solid organizations well positioned in the business world. The 2020s begin with great expectations, as the first of the new era: the fourth industrial revolution.
There was a lot of expectation for this new period and when everything seemed technologically on an exponential scale, a biological threat emerged, a virus that, like corporate unicorns, has an exponential growth scale.
From this, we realized that all our technology, high processing capacity, capital, governments and vast resources were not able to stop its impressive and global evolution.
In the days leading up to Brazil's shutdown, as well as the first days afterward, the feeling of anguish and deep vulnerability were unique and we found ourselves in the middle of a rough sea with few resources. However, in a moment of deep reflection, a slogan emerges that describes us as being able to continue moving forward, no matter the storm.
Broken eggs make an omelet, so there will always be opportunity and in the midst of crises, where everyone is in the same boat, new businesses and ways of seeing and living life emerge. Without a doubt, COVID-19 will mark the world and act as a catalyst to further accelerate the fourth industrial revolution.
New trends are clear for the post-COVID-19 period, mainly focused on social media, education, remote work, leadership, connectivity, solidarity, family, circular economy, social capitalism and the environment. These are some of the areas in which it is possible to predict major changes.
1. Social Media
Social media has gained even more relevance and is present in almost everyone's lives. Encapsulation led those most averse to technology to immerse themselves in it and with the platforms in the palm of their hands, they became consumers and content generators, consumers and sellers of the most diverse types of products. Hashtags gave strength to popular opinions.
2. Education and Remote Work
It was already a reality for sectors such as technology and services, but now it is gaining an unprecedented scale. We realized that it is not necessary for us to all be together in the same place to generate value. Meetings are summed up in an email, days of work and travel are compressed into a quick virtual conversation, not to mention classes in your room or on your balcony. . We will undoubtedly be more efficient, which will give us more time for other activities.
3. Leadership
COVID-19 will take leadership skills to a new level, to contactless leadership, driven by results, without recording points, without work sessions, but with much more productive, effective, agile and even, often, meetings. via platforms.
4. Connectivity
It will be living in all its splendor, changing the dynamics of everything and everyone, with the forecast of a fully connected world by 2022, radically accelerating everything around us. The Man – Machine singularity and artificial intelligence supporting emotional intelligence will become increasingly real due to COVID-19. What was still mere entertainment for many will gain a connotation of essentiality and a successful tool for business.
5. Solidarity
The global pandemic and isolation are generating great social awareness and solidarity with others. Every day it is possible to observe new initiatives to support the most vulnerable. Competitors working together to produce necessary items such as masks, alcohol gel, hospital equipment. Cease fire in regions of armed conflict, different beliefs now together. The enemy is common and dangerous, there is no time for fights. COVID-19 will leave a legacy of a world with more awareness and concern for others.
6. Family
The shutdown that forced us into isolation and connected us more, even at this time via platforms, with people we have the greatest bond with and our families, this contact combined with this feeling of vulnerability and risk of loss, changes the perspective of performance, career and results. What's the point of excellent numbers without the people who are truly important to my life?
7. Circular Economy and Social Capitalism
A point that since 2016 during the World Economic Forum has been gaining strength. The so-called middle path, among economic theories, gained in the fourth industrial revolution the energy necessary to scale and create value with other first fruits. COVID-19 will catalyze business models such as sharing, social thinking, rejection of planned obsolescence, preservation of natural resources and the services sector. The thought will become: why have it if I can enjoy it?
8. Environment
Italy, which has been suffering a severe impact from COVID-19, records a 40% drop in its atmospheric emissions. In Venice it is possible to admire the beauty of crystal clear waters in its famous canals, to the point where it is possible to see fish swimming serenely. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), oil consumption is registering a sharp reduction. Beaches on the coast of São Paulo and northeastern Brazil have once again become a place for sea turtles to visit.
The interruption of the routine we were used to is helping to reduce atmospheric emissions, which generate global warming. In China alone, the result already exceeds 100 million tons of carbon dioxide, CO2, emissions saved, representing a worldwide reduction of 6%. The drop in Nitrogen dioxide, NO2, in recent weeks reaches 39% on a global scale.
After COVID-19, it is clear that the world will never be the same in relation to various aspects such as habits, values, consumption, relationships and the environment. The perception of the world and life will no longer be the same. Unfortunately, it was necessary to be ravaged by a pandemic, to suffer the loss of human lives to be able to change our mindset and see that we are more fragile than we imagined, but that there are other ways of leading our lives, that what is lost in the fire, becomes found in the ashes.
*Marcelo Souza is CEO of Indústria Fox
