...isn't all bad.
As a business instructor at a small, private university, I enjoy a unique vantage point to see life from a lot of different perspectives. I've got to keep up with what's happening within my chosen disciplines (human resources, information systems, and management) while interacting with young people every day. These developing adults are great sources of feedback; without a doubt, they will share their feelings and their "filters" are not as developed as their older peers. This honesty is something for which instructors should be grateful; our students, in essence, are telling us what to teach them..
In many ways, it's our job as teachers to consume the news of the world around us and to transform it into a form that our students will integrate, evaluate, and dissect. It's wild to look back in January and see just how much has actually taken place since the "before" time ended. As a matter of practice, I begin most of my courses with a brief discussion of current events and how they relate to whatever subject we are covering. It's a way to give students a transition into class mode and a low-stakes approach to facilitating discussion.
We started in the first weeks of the semester discussing how the strange virus in China might disrupt global trade. By the middle of the term, we were evaluating what businesses might thrive or suffer due to our changing circumstances...as we also cleared out our campus migrated to online learning because of the very events being discussed. When May rolled around, we were wishing our seniors well as they headed into a transformed and uncertain world without a graduation ceremony after spending the last half of their last semester in quarantine and isolation.
At the same time, my colleagues and I adapted to new ways of teaching online. Despite the challenges of replicating in-person experiences in an online format, we pulled together and learned from one another. Sometimes we were so busy that it was possible to forget about our friends who were losing their jobs and struggling to make ends meet within a job market that had just undergone the most massive retraction since the great depression.
I count myself as grateful to have maintained my position and income as we weathered this storm in higher ed. The only way to make a global pandemic even more frightening is to remove someone's lifeline to food, shelter, and income. Although the financial crisis has subsided for many, the recovery is holy halfway there. Despite the rebound experienced by most white-collar/knowledge workers as we've adapted to online and hybrid work, some economists are referring to the recovery as "K-shaped":
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| Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2020/10/24/three-charts-show-a-k-shaped-recovery/?sh=3bd829fa305f |
What this scenario means is that about half of Americans are back in good financial shape while the other half are struggling. It all depends what industry you're in; for example, while online retailers are having a banner year, flight attendants and bartenders aren't. Even as we had to a vaccine (and a pending return to some kind of normal), many of the new changes are bound to stay with us. Many of our friends and colleagues will need to find new professions and paths in life as a result of this massive upheaval in norms. Those of us who ARE fortunate should be ready to show compassion to those who face new starts in a challenging time.
Even though this blog's title emphasizes that there are some good things to come out of the year, some of our current status is neither good nor bad; rather, it's just.....complicated. Transformations, however, often come out of the ashes terrible or tragic events or misfortunes. For example, the global industrial dominance of the U.S. in the latter half of the 20th century was largely based on suffering only one large attack on our own soil. After the war, we were the factory to the world. On a much smaller (and less tragic) scale, the Post-It note was created because a polymer that was intended to be super-sticky failed at its original job...but worked great as a temporary adhesive.
In both cases, unexpected circumstances led to opportunities and permanent changes. Regardless of the impetus for such transformations, the end results were leveraged for prosperity based on the ingenuity and vision of creative people. In the same way, we can grow a better post-COVID future by adapting.
The following list is 6 lessons I've learned from this most unusual year. These points encompass actual news, personal observations, and maybe even a little philosophy. Here goes:
1. Remote and hybrid work and learning is here to stay: My first post-college career in the mid-1990s was installing and maintaining incredibly expensive room-based videoconferencing systems. Companies spent thousands on these devices in the belief that eventually people would get tired of traveling...but travel never fell off significantly and these investments resulted in few cost savings. In 2020, however, everything changed as a pandemic led to millions of non-techie types learning to work remotely. As a result, we never need another academic study on the efficacy of telecommuting.
Companies are taking notice too; outdoor gear mega-retailer REI recently cancelled plans for a sprawling, multi-million dollar Seattle office (https://www.seattletimes.com/business/local-business/rei-to-sell-its-new-bellevue-headquarters-and-shift-office-work-to-multiple-seattle-sites/#:~:text=In%20yet%20another%20sign%20of,sites%20across%20the%20Seattle%20area). Some firms are predicting that flexible work and staggered shifts, alongside the demonstrated practicality of remote work, will result in smaller offices for many companies (https://www.dezeen.com/2020/05/11/offices-design-coronavirus-pandemic-sevil-peach/).
2. Online learning will not completely replace in-person education: This point may even make me a bit hypocritical, as I teach some online classes and I'm currently completing my doctoral work via an online program. Online learning works well for some people, working professionals and adults, in-particular. It does not, however, supplant the in-person experience for most K-12 students and college undergrads.
This past semester, I adapted a hybrid model to my in-person teaching. Although modified for various classes, spaces, and enrollment sizes, the approach went like this for a M-W-F session: Monday, group 1 attends in person, group 2 via Zoom. Tuesday, group 2 attends in person, group 1 via Zoom. Friday, everybody goes online. I also added a caveat that ANY student could attend in person at ANY time so long as they distanced and wore a mask. It was my attempt at making students both comfortable and safe.
The challenges were plentiful. I repeatedly had to ask students to turn on their cameras and to interact. A number of academically-challenged students began abusing the online option as an opportunity to "tune out" of class. As an instructor, i had to split my attention between 15 in-person attendees and a Zoom call on a large screen. Although I found my "zone," videoconferencing works best as a dedicated medium; in other words, if EVERYONE is online, the instructor has a better shot at equal engagement. Students at larger institutions such as Penn State have also confirmed these difficulties, opining that many undergrads are using the online option to put less effort into their education (https://radio.wpsu.org/post/hybrid-learning-poses-communication-challenges-students-say). Suffice it to say, we educators have a lot of best practices to implement in the near future of online learning, but I do believe most students will return to the classroom if offered the option.
3. New and emerging business models are thriving: Creativity is an amazing force; at the worst of times, some of the best ideas come to light. One of the best examples I can think of is the recent phenomenon of "ghost restaurants." Ghost restaurants are delivery-only and have no official storefront or dining area. Thanks to services such as "Door Dash" and "Uber Eats," many traditional restaurants have adopted a delivery-only option. Ironically, this approach was just taking root prior to the pandemic. Under the ghost model however, a single "faceless" restaurant could be the hub for multiple franchises with the consumer being none the wiser.
Live music has certainly been a victim of our current circumstances, but leave it to artists to turn a challenge into an opportunity. While some bands and singers have organized drive-in tours, others are creating unique and vibrant online experiences. British technical metal band Tesseract is doing a streaming live performance accompanied by newly-created digital artwork. 90's rockers 311 have been performing albums in their entirety to streaming audiences. Fans still get a live music experience....without the need to pay for parking or $10 for a beer, while bands get some time off the road. My good friend (and bandmate) Kevin McDonald, co-owner of Mainstreet Music in Irwin, PA even has a new and emerging business helping bands and singers set up home streaming services.
4. There are many hidden heroes of 2020: We all know that our healthcare workers, first responders, police, mental health professionals, and public health staffs have been working overtime this year. They are, without a doubt, selfless heroes who have put themselves in harm's way to ensure the rest of us are safe. There are, however, a number of other heroes who deserve a shout out. In no particular order (and with apologies to any key groups I missed):
- Grocery store workers: These folks made sure we had everything from tortilla chips to beer to toilet paper (when it was available), all while working in hazardous environments and (far too often) dealing with frustrated consumers. There have been a number of cases when one of these hard-working people took a punch to the face simply for enforcing store policy.
- Mail carriers and shipping workers: Our good USPS folks delivered everything from hand sanitizer to homework while becoming a political target. If 2020 didn't epitomize the "debt of night" that these folks take a vow to work through, I don't know what does.
- Writers, musicians, and artists: I don't know how we'd have kept our sanity without Spotify, Netflix, and a string of good books. While healthcare workers were protecting our bodies, the individuals behind all of the content we consume were feeding our souls.
- Teachers: I've heard stories of public school teachers sending food and supplies to quarantined students who relied on their districts for sustenance and shelter. For every teacher who "phoned it in" during the pandemic and online learning, there are several who went above and beyond.
5. When given a chance, people can really be awesome: There are too many examples to provide a comprehensive list, but a few choice examples will illustrate this point.
- My friend is a local bar owner. When our Governor banned alcohol sales at restaurants on the night before Thanksgiving (the biggest bar night of the year in PA), people slammed my friend's bar with take out food orders. He ended up having the biggest Thanksgiving Eve ever...and all because people wanted to make sure the venue stayed open.
- Several of my colleagues collected care packages for our own college students in COVID quarantine so that they could have snacks while passing the time.
- Thousands of people organized parades to recognize graduations, birthdays, and other life events...so that we could be close even when we couldn't be together.
- A church in my area opened up their community centers to school kids who lacked adequate WiFi to attend online learning at home.
- Students and faculty from my institution used 3d printers (and a ton of manual labor) to create and assemble face shields for first responders and medical staff. To date, we've given away over 800 of these devices.
I'm sure you have your own stories to share here as well. When things get tough, we still, as a nation, are blessed with good-hearted people who are willing to reach out to help others. These folks realize that it consumes roughly the same amount of energy to take action and make positive change for others.
6. We are, as a nation, truly and severely divided when it comes to politics....but that should NOT stop us from trying to come together: Regardless of individual political preferences, I think that most people are glad to see the ugliness of the 2020 election come to an end. This year, the perfect storm of isolation, stress, and reliance on social media for contact helped ensure that our political interactions became more extreme and compressed. The loudest, angriest, and most polarizing content repeatedly bore its ugly head, and those preaching moderation and compromise were often lost in the noise. I know I've published a few blogs on the subject of reaching out to people who don't share our views, but it bears repeating. We cannot continue as a country without dialog.
Might our collective 2021 New Year's Resolution look something like this?
I (insert name here) resolve to:
- Listen before I speak
- Empathize even if I do not agree
- Visualize others' walks of life
- Imagine how the world looks through their eyes
- Legitimize the value of others' feelings
- Seek common ground
- Eliminate stereotyping or labeling
- Project respect and kindness
- Put friendship and love above party and bias
Will such a simple pledge fix our complex problems? No. Might it be a starting point for conversation? Possibly.
We've had plenty of time this year to know where we, ourselves, are coming from. 2020's greatest lesson might just be to remind us of how much we need our communities, families, and neighborhoods. Maybe the purpose of this chaotic year was to spur us on to re-evaluate what these concepts even mean by giving us the space to see the best and worst parts in ourselves (if we are willing to look at them honestly). Perhaps the threat of losing things we all care about can provide enough commonality to work through the areas where we disagree...and to do so with respect for each other.
Here's to a better and brighter 2021, my friends. Let us not lose these lessons.
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