“We are only disappointed in relation to our expectations.”
In my view, this pandemic and the financial crisis that followed could only have come as a shock if we had forgotten one fundamental truth: life has never followed a straight or stable path.
Reality is far better represented by a series of peaks and valleys. The greatest empires in history experienced periods of prosperity and decline before eventually disappearing altogether. The same can be said of many once-prominent local and multinational companies that were household names during our childhood.
Nothing lasts forever, and nothing remains unchanged. Everything is in constant motion. From this perspective, being completely caught off guard by the impact of COVID-19 may simply reveal that we underestimated both our own vulnerability and that of the systems we rely upon. We should ask ourselves: How is it possible that companies worth billions of dollars were unable to withstand just three months of inactivity?
All of us have either experienced personal hardship or witnessed the struggles of others. Ideally, these experiences should have taught us to ask a simple but powerful question: “What if…?”
Throughout my work in corporate training and awareness programs, I constantly emphasize one principle:
Before hoping for the best, prepare for the worst.
Unfortunately, many governments failed to adopt this mindset. The same was true for numerous multinational corporations and countless families around the world.
My hope is that this crisis has finally reminded us of our own fragility—and of the fragility of the systems we’ve built. More importantly, I hope it inspires us to make meaningful and lasting changes to both our professional and personal lives.
(Naturally, this reflection does not apply to those who have never experienced financial stability and therefore had no opportunity to protect themselves against an economic crisis.)
Karim Kadiri