We cannot go back to “normal”

Peter du ToitI'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to design digital workplaces or “offices in the cloud.” These environments enable companies to allow flexible and remote working for their teams. I also teach the digital literacy, fluency, communication and collaboration skills needed to work in these modern technology-rich workplaces.

I am just surfacing this Economist KAL cartoon from April as a reminder. We cannot, as we rebuild after Covid, go back to “normal” because waiting on the other side of this pandemic fight is the climate crisis which requires as urgent attention as slowing the spread of this virus has. (See The new Climate Math: The Numbers Keep Getting More Frightening)

We simply HAVE TO make radical changes to the way we have lived and worked. We are running out of time. Leadership teams that obsess about decoupling their income streams from the need to burn fossil fuels will be remembered as those that took action when it was desperately needed.

Use whatever means you have at your disposal to start down this road.

Step 1: Have a clear understanding where your business intersects with fossil fuels. Use this graphic as a starting point.