COVID-19 – A paradigm shift from values to careers to economies.

Paradigm Shift, by definition, is a dramatic change in methodology or practice. A significant change will occur when the usual way of thinking or doing something, is replaced by a better solution.

The evolution of women in society is a drastic change – from being told to be confined within four walls to being businesswomen, receiving voting rights, etc. – this progressive change is a paradigm shift.

The internet to conduct business transactions, R&D, in comparison to only receiving information from a library – the world has come a long way.

The foresight to see the change that society can implement to develop and innovate our working capitalizes on Paradigm Shift.

Two roads are possible:

Either create the paradigm shift or position to be in front of one.

Everybody has heard the moral, slow and steady wins the race, but did it occur to us that the Moral must not end there? The story must continue...?

The ideal bedtime story is a classic example of a Paradigm Shift in today's business world.

The rabbit had lost the race only because it was overconfident, careless, and lax. We should never belittle our opponent merely because we are ahead of the race, so the rabbit decided to challenge the turtle to another race, the turtle agreed.

In this version, the rabbit did not take a break, going all out, finishing the race, the rabbit began to celebrate. The rabbit won by several miles.

Here, the moral is, fast and consistent will beat the slow and steady.

It is always good for a business to be fast and reliable.

But the story does not end here.

The turtle realizes that it is impossible to beat the rabbit the way this race is currently formatted. The turtle challenged the rabbit to a slightly different race. The rabbit is holding with his self-made commitment to remain consistently fast until he came faced with a broad river. The finishing line is a couple of miles on the other side of the river, and there is no way around it.

The turtle then trundles along, gets into the river, swims to the opposite bank, continues to walk to reach the finish line.

The moral of the story is, Recognize your forte and modify the level-playing field that will favour your traits.

Once again, this is not the end.

The turtle and rabbit began to acquaint themselves and were good friends.

They decided to team up and run the race together. The rabbit carried the turtle to the riverbank, then the turtle took over and swam across with the rabbit on the shell. When they reached land, the rabbit took over and finished the race with the turtle.

Working together, they finished the race in record time with roars of applause, hence felt an extensive deal of satisfaction.

Here, the moral is:

It is good to be individually brilliant and have strong core competencies but work in a team, channel, and utilize each other's core competencies, thereby being above par.

Teamwork is about people coming together with appropriate core competencies for a situation to take charge.

TEAM is the acronym of Together Each Achieve More.

And this is a Paradigm Shift in today's world.

A paradigm shift is happening now with the approach of cloud computing; software infrastructure provided as a service.

The sharing economy and gig economy are two models which have disrupted traditional working models, made possible by the ubiquitous use of mobile smartphones and apps. Now, anyone with a phone can share their property, car, services for a fee through applications like Airbnb, Uber, Upwork, etc.

The COVID-19 Paradigm Shift has changed values, careers, and economies. The pandemic is creating a powerful shift across the earth, businesses, markets, and people. The pandemic continues to force people to redefine what and who they value, how countries govern, whose opinions to listen to, how to view facts and science, and how to cultivate relationships, be it professional or personal.

People were used to the conventional manner - seeing their foes, detecting danger, sensing something awry, running to safety in the arms of a beloved. COVID-19 is the invisible, undetectable paradigm shift - changed the way we interact.

Competitors were in their corners, battling out for market share and dominance.

COVID-19 turns the very competitors to be frail figures.

Companies and countries are joining figurative hands to save lives. Borders and boundaries etched in stone are now made of clay.

We are dependant. The unity we have exhibited to solve the world's most intractable problems is commendable.

There was, is, and forever will be enough. There are enough resources on the planet. It all boils down to distribution and security. That is what we are witnessing.

Priorities change, from shaking hands to social distancing - our manner of showing appreciation has changed. What remains to be a constant? Empathy.

This pandemic has taught us a great deal of empathy. With everyone forging a path during this time, it is humanizing and equalizing to see people coming together and talking about simple struggles.

Our love and appreciation for women leaders have certainly changed.

The leadership management shown by this gender is the most effective.

The few traits when women lead are collaboration, resourcefulness, communication, listening, building coalitions of diverse points of view, and transparency.

We are at the core of an intense paradigm shift. It is uncomfortable, scary, and everything is in flux. These are the symptoms of a paradigm shift.

This magic carpet will land. As a society, we will make the world function with 100% compassion through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone. Business is no more about stakeholders, shareholders, market share, distribution of resources, etc.

Businesses are now about the traits that one brings to the table – it is all about being a good human being.