COVID-19: The Future Today

COVID -19: a ruthless killer to human power with no mercy, has challenged the social lives and relation ships. It has distanced us physically from each other to feel the value of great relationships. People have been fenced and cornered to feel the power of love and affection. COVID -19 defines the distance amongst us depriving emotions, feel & touch. Major violators of rules set by COVID -19 are directly migrated to the place of no return with no excuses. It teaches us a great lesson in the near history of the world. Thank you for shaking us and showing us that we are dependent on something bigger than what we think. The hidden forces of universe commanding us to rest and stay at home. Earth is begging us to support its rebuilding process, which has been disturbed due to unprecedented human actions and greediness. COVID -19 is now creating the future of the world today. It demands us to imagine and rebuild a better world for the next generation. It is a great opportunity in disguise for survivors who battled against by following the rules set by itself. Hence, it is time to tame ourselves and to follow the rules defined by COVID -19. This is vital: first to survive from the killer coronavirus and second to make a better world for all of us.

Peoples In- Animals Out

It is strange that flora and fauna simply get on with their normal habitats, whilst humans have been sighed off with no options. However, our minds are forced to imagine & observe the natural behavior of animals around us. Monkeys climb up to the treetops grinning at us. They eat leaves & vegetations and enjoy freedom of living. Birds fly and sing while trees bends creating waves of cool winds sourced from the sea. The sea is silent making occasional thunder waves to tell the Sea Hunters to stay away from its territory. Most intelligent animals (Mammal) termed as humans on earth are restricted and confined to walls created by themselves. Animals are out of walls while people are behind the walls in manmade zoo's This is called reverse thinking by Dr. De Bono. Houses built using motor and bricks are packed with people with no hopes and expectations while natural habitats in villages have become the safest heaven for people.

What is Due for Future

These premises or hypothesizes need to be tested empirically before arriving at conclusions. Some of them are conceptual while the others are experiential in their own nature of operand

Technology Overpowers the Humanity

Most of us believes that a machine can never overpower humans as it is always a human that design and create any machinery. It is a well-accepted fact that human intelligence and consciousness cannot be implemented by a human programmer, it forms itself. Some argue that machine (Robot etc.) will overtake human beings but the real question remains if it is good or bad if technology overpowers the humanity. COVID -19 forces us to separate ourselves but technology supports us to keep connected. It is technology that keeps us connected even at a crisis and helps people to maintain better relationships through social media and internet of things. Online businesses and personal communications facilitate smooth functioning of day to day lives. Technology breaks all authority levels both vertically and horizon tally. It creates a fully pledged networks amongst all of us and new value chains are created at the expense of real humanity.

The pertinent question that we should ask ourselves is that what if the same situation continue with new generations by distancing people at social and physical levels.

Truth is Minority Not the Majority

Once Soren Kierkegaard said "truth always with the minority, and the minority is always stronger than majority". Minority is the vital few with a strong and tested knowledge while the majority is illusory and with untested opinions. In any given situation, opinion of the minority is well refined, and it is tough to implement with the support of the majority because of its power. COVID-19 forced leaders to take decision without thinking of the majority but the minority of experts. Those who took or will take bold decisions with the opinion of minority have or will challenged the COVID-19 and the rest will be succumbed. COVID -19 is the truth and the minority and majority of people will suffer due to nonacceptance of the truth of minority. Think of the universal principle that minority has the truth while majority has the power. It is a test of leadership that minority leads while the majority is silent and supportive. In term of the current crisis of COVID -9, we are still to witness the response and the power of the world leadership

Reverse Thinking is More Productive

Reverse thinking is the inverse of normal thinking. Thinking in reverse can make you more creative and productive in life. We need to identify the problem and think to create ideas reversely. COVID -19 challenged and forced all of us including students to stay at home. We thought it was a blessing to guide & train our students in our newly built online CMS and keep them engaged safely at home. It's a reverse thinking scenario as keeping students away from us. The norm is to motivate students to visit us regular ly. COVID-19 forced us to be at home as a result, many vendors start visiting us creating a supply chain, which saves time and minimize the environmental pollution too. We can build a new zoo like in Japan with animal playing outside while people in cages with a fence observing the natural behavior of animals. Our minds are always creating paradigms and shifting them is tough without having a crisis.

Business Enterprises are Overmanaged

COVID 1 9 taught us and made clear that many business enterprises are overmanaged and overstaffed. It was evident that many organizations in the country run smoothly while the staff is resting at home. Organizations can be managed with a simple set of technology-based management tools and the resultant cost would be extremely lower than the normal cost but with the same level of operations. Hence, COVID-19 forced us to re think and to redesign the structure of the organization with clearly defined new roles to be played by employees and the management. It is high time for CEOs to redesign their business model and value chains so that more sustainable business environment could be created for the benefits of all stakeholders.

Healthy Sustainable Lifestyle

The idea of living a sustainable lifestyle is about living in such a way that supports a healthy body and mind, while also supporting the health of the planet for the benefits of the current and future generation to come. COVID -19 is currently teaching us a great lesion of having sustainable lifestyle without damaging the environment. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been playing a critical role in the preven tion, treatment and rehabilitation of novel coronavirus pneumonia. Though health experts in Sri Lanka refute claims of herbal cure for novel coronavirus, many people in the field of Ayurveda and household levels have tested traditional medicine to improve immune systems of the body. The planet is begging from all of us to give it a rest and to have a sustainable life by reducing pollution and overconsumption of its natural resources. Hence, it is time to tame ourselves and to follow the rules defined by COVID -19. This is vital: first to survive from the killer coronavirus and second to make a better word for the next gen Z and Alfa.

Dr. D M A Kulasooriaya

Director General

National Institute of Business Management

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