Half-time lockdown show

Today I had a break from the day job, moonlighting as sous-chef for my wife (Jamie Yeo)’s livestream with Singtel. (I didn't mess it up for her, which I’ll take it as a win). It was a surreal experience, but then everything is right now.

As Apocalypse-April melds into a more-of-the-same-May, it seemed a good time to take stock of what this lockdown or circuit-breaker has taught me, including:

1. Seeing what’s happening around the world is humbling and brings (re)connection with family, friends, colleagues, and networks. I’ve never felt more grateful for what I have or cared less about what I don’t.
2. A lot of talk of new normal. I hope that healthcare and frontline workers getting the resources, recognition and respect they deserve is the new normal.
3. My wife works in the media/entertainment sector, and her clients are mainly marketing departments within corporates, or PR and media agencies. Since January, when we in Singapore first started to get hit, they’ve adapted rapidly. Life was moved to digital quickly and efficiently.
4. For the internal legal, risk, ethics and compliance teams I deal with, there has been a slower adaptation (with exceptions, of course). As Richard Bistrong recently discussed, there has also been somewhat of a pause (certainly of much investigative, training, and monitoring/auditing) in many of the big(ger) companies.
5. That forced a pivot, and quickly. As someone running a small business, I don’t have the luxury of waiting out the crisis. The pivot was twofold: moving (even more) of the business online (including training, more on that, and the perils of recording videos at home another time); and working with SMEs as some larger firms take stock.
6. Working with SMEs has been fantastic. The impact is instantaneous, the agility they’re showing (often borne of necessity) is inspiring, and the camaraderie and rapport have made a mockery of distance and isolation. Special shout-out to James Ritchie for getting people together.
7. Service providers have a choice: generate goodwill or generate ill-will. Some landlords and other providers of now inaccessible services expect us to keep funding them when they offer no positive incentive to do so. Others, like my Jiu-Jitsu club, announced as soon as they had to shut that they’d freeze memberships and extend renewal periods.
8. For the kids, on day one of Home-Based Learning (HBL) via Google/Zoom the teachers were on it like white on rice. Attire and hair were immaculate and inspected and her room tidy (miracle of miracles). After the attrition of a month of incompatible tech, clunky systems, the recognition that not all kids have unfettered access to laptops, it’s a different picture. This week she’s rocked the pyjamas until dinner routine. My son still just puts his foot in his mouth and says “Yucky” whenever put on Zoom for his pre-school class, no change there.
9. The dog, well, he’s exhausted. Suddenly everyone wants to walk him. But he sees the upside of scraps from three homecooked meals a day and is looking ‘prosperous’ [local vernacular for rotund].

What are the lessons:

1. Personal: Perspective and empathy. Sustainability and ethics MUST be a focus as we emerge from this. Connection and improved recognition of who and what really matters.
2. Commercial: As my personal tutor said, “the business of business is business.” The areas of companies that drive sales have had to adapt and they’re doing so. Some haven’t and will suffer.
3. Professional: The ethics and compliance pause is happening, for some. The impacts we’ll see in the coming months and years.
4. Network: SMEs are inspirational and supporting your community (professional and local) is vital.
5. Goodwill matters: I remember in a marketing class at school being told that when we get good service we tell a few people (maybe 3-4), when we get bad service it’s in excess of 10. That sounds about right, but note-to-self to try and flip that and tell people about the good service more. Shout-out to Gracie Barra Singapore.
6. Hats off to teachers and parents: HBL is a special kind of hell, for all afflicted! But much as we bemoan it now, it can be very funny and it’s going to make for some fantastic stories (my daughter doesn’t realise the defaced pictures of her teachers, with moustaches and alike added, sync to my wife’s phone; we have much material for future use!).

What's next?

Who knows. We'll all have to find our way. But, it does seem like a good idea (selfishly and selflessly) to help each other out.

So... if you (or someone you know) needs anything that you think I might be able to help with, let me know. It could be professional, personal, career chat, job change (forced or not), ethics of muzzling kids, indoor gardening, perils of using garden furniture as improvised punchbags, why indoor sandpits don't work, etc. Happy to help, and no expectations or obligations of reciprocity.

If you have ideas of how you could help others, add it to the comments, and take care!