Since March 2020, I have been intimately involved in the COVID-19 response. I have also read and researched many articles related to this pandemic.

For me, there are 66 lessons that we can learn through our response and living through a pandemic. Some of these lessons may overlap with each other.

These 66 lessons have been categories into five categories.

Category 1 – Identify the best strategy and implement it ruthlessly without wavering

There were two main strategies — suppression or elimination — that governments could have adopted in response to the pandemic in early 2020.

New Zealand adopted the elimination strategy. It became the gold standard for quickly but ruthlessly implementing that strategy. The “go hard and go early” strategy proved to be more effective than most had anticipated.

The country moved back to its lowest alert level on 8 June 2020. This was after only seven weeks of shutdown. Key to the management of this resurgence was the use of rapid genome sequencing and a new requirement for mask use when travelling on public transport.

In contrast to New Zealand, Iceland’s strategy involved no shutdown period, no official border closure to non-residents, and negligible use of managed quarantine facilities. Its aim instead was to mitigate infection so it did not overwhelm the health-care system. This kept the numbers as low as possible. The key strategy was to provide easy access to COVID-19 testing and mass screening, alongside quarantine and contact tracing.

No country has successfully eliminated COVID-19, though some like New Zealand have come close. But the economic and resulting health and social costs of adopting the elimination strategy could outweigh the benefits for most countries.

Many countries have instead adopted the suppression strategy with varying degree of success.

McKinsey listed three main paths for leaders to adopt:

• Near-zero virus — This path requires the opening of the economy while imposing virus-control measures that stop short of a lock-down. It has been effective in preventing the virus spread.
• Balancing act — This path involves a staged reopening of the economy. It is about controlling the virus spread within the capacity of the healthcare system.
• Transition act — This path involves switching from a balancing-act path to a near-zero-virus path by implementing elements of near-zero-virus packages as soon as they are ready.

Particular Asian countries like Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan have successfully adopted the near-zero virus pathway with low community transmission rates. These countries have also experienced much lower initial declines in their GDP — in the range of 1% to 2%, in contrast to the likely 8% to 13%.

Places that adopted the suppression strategy have unfortunately seen the emergence of second or third waves of the coronavirus.

We have seen how different strategies to get COVID-19 under control have produced vastly different economic and social outcomes.

Lessons learned:

1. No one is immune to the coronavirus
2. Act quickly — Time is of the essence
3. Stop reinventing the wheel
4. Centralised decision-making; decentralise local action-taking
5. There are always trade-offs in every decision
6. Make decisions based on the best available information
7. Everyone has an opinion; celebrate diversity and inclusion
8. Be flexible and adaptable to change
9. Always lookout for new strategies
10. Strategy implementation is hard
11. Wait-and-see (or hope-and-pray) are not good strategies
12. Culture can have a significant impact on your chosen strategy
13. Ruthless strategy execution is the key to long-term success
14. Know your stakeholders’ appetite and tolerance for risk-taking
15. Over-action can have negative implications
16. Knowing your enemy is important
17. Always keep to the plan and cooperate with stakeholders
18. We need unified responses rather than diverse disconnected strategies
19. We must share information globally and transparently
20. Adopt a whole-of-society approach
21. Civil liberties must be compromised for the greater good
22. Welfare systems can take years to build but can be demolished within days
23. Economic efficiencies can cause unintended consequences
24. Vulnerable communities and groups must be protected
25. Don’t forget that people have basic needs to fulfil
26. There will be unintended consequences of any chosen strategy
27. It took a crisis to get people to be serious about business continuity
28. Be prepared and be self-sufficient
29. COVID-19 is just a sign of a broader risk to come
30. Organisations are cutting jobs and cost

Category 2 – Provide strong decisive leadership that builds trust, certainty and confidence

Strong leadership shown during a crisis or emergency is vital for building and maintaining stakeholder trust, certainty and confidence.

McKinsey proclaimed that “ending lockdowns alone won’t restore confidence or growth. Only when the novel coronavirus is under control will economic growth resume.”

We know that the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and its associated health risks have caused many individuals, households, and businesses to opt-out of normal activity — even if no formal restrictions are in place. Eliminating that uncertainty is essential to restart economic growth and to bring life back to normality.

To be confident, McKinsey found that the public needs evidence of the following:

• New case counts are low and testing is sufficiently widespread.
• The number of serious COVID-19 cases that require hospitalisation can be effectively handled by the health system without impairing its capacity to deliver normal medical treatment.
• Communication about health interventions by leaders is credible, consistent, and provided sufficiently in advance to let families and the public and private sectors plan. (my emphasis in bold)
• Public-health measures are delivered effectively and are sufficient to prevent increases in transmission.
• Public-health interventions, including those deployed for high-risk and vulnerable populations, do not structurally prevent economic recovery.

Countries that have successfully restored confidence have seen their economic activity returning or begin to return to pre-crisis levels.

The adoption of the near-zero-virus path has built public confidence. Their citizens have responded by resuming economic activity.

Countries that have adopted the balancing-act path found it more challenging to build and sustain public confidence.

Leaders need the courage and humility to first admit the gravity of the challenges at hand. They must select a strategy and implement it ruthlessly. They must also offer a vision, narrative and clarity to overcome these challenges.

Lessons learned:

31. Success hinged on decisive leadership
32. Trust is the most valuable asset
33. Accountability is critical for building trust
34. Be honest about uncertainties
35. People want certainty and confidence to plan for their future
36. Don’t give false hope to people

Category 3 – Overcome fear and miscommunication with credible and consistent communications

Effective communication is a key pillar of crisis governance. Being transparent and accurate in relaying information, preparing the public for what is coming next and expressing a degree of empathy can go a long way in ensuring effective communications.

Information can be easily verified and consumed as it is widely available, especially the Internet. Any hint that it is incorrect can only break trust and confidence. When there is trust, citizens will comply with directives. They will act as they are told like self-isolating.

Everyone especially leaders need to pay particular attention to their communication messages and strategies — internally and externally — because words matter especially during a crisis.

• Internally, if a leader provides what he or she thinks is a clear direction, but the team sees it as ambiguous, the likelihood of failure becomes significantly higher.
• Externally, the strategy needs to be focused on managing expectations as well as developing and maintaining public trust and confidence. Even a successful crisis, responses can appear to be a failure if the public has lost faith in the system or its leaders.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has scrapped its advice on how the coronavirus can spread through the air. It had originally posted an update to its COVID-19 guidance webpage which acknowledged the risk that the coronavirus can be transmitted to others through airborne particles that are released by infected people. But in a quiet reversal, CDC has now said that the “draft version of proposed changes to these commendations was posted in error”.

Lessons learned:

37. Provide information that is true and factual; don’t take people for a ride
38. A crisis is a journey of transformation; take people on that journey
39. Provide consistent and credible messages
40. Definitions do matter; avoid shifting data
41. Tell good stories
42. Communicate about the efficacy of risk-reduction behaviours
43. Understand people’s unconscious biases

Category 4 – Don’t waste a crisis to reset and initiate corporate innovation and change

Often a crisis acts as the forcing mechanism to compel expeditious innovation. This can lead to rapid advances in technology, policy and procedures.

McKinsey found that most industries are considering or planning large-scale changes in their organisations trigged by COVID-19. This includes how meetings are run, talent management, use of technology, and innovation, as shown below.

McKinsey, 2020

Many surveyed organisations realised the value of speed during these times of flux and uncertainty, as shown below. McKinsey, 2020

Organisational silos, slow decision-making and the lack of strategic clarity are some factors that could limit the rate at which organisations can get work done.

Lessons learned:

44. Set up a strong plan when dealing with a crisis
45. It takes a crisis to trigger innovation and behavioural change
46. Use a crisis to try out new things
47. Focus on the core business and strategy differentiators
48. Part-time and flexible work arrangements will become the norm
49. Always focus on your customers and their changing needs
50. Cut the fat, not the muscle
51. Remote working to save cost
52. Greater employer responsibility for their employees’ financial, physical and mental well-being
53. Remove inflexible structures and systems
54. Create more sustainable and flexible supply chains
55. Create a dynamic skills strategy
56. Take social distancing seriously
57. Beware of cyber-criminals

Category 5 – Individuals are taking more personal responsibility for themselves

Until a vaccine is found, governments have recommended measures such as social distancing, wearing a mask and good hand hygiene that will continue to remain our new normal.

Lessons learned:

58. Good hygiene is in our hands
59. Be aware of mental health, stress, etc. issues
60. People want to know the exit strategy
61. Manage the crisis/lockdown fatigue
62. Don’t be afraid to take a sick day
63. We don’t need to be socially distanced
64. People are protecting themselves
65. Take the opportunity to upskill
66. Start to future-proof your career

[The full article can be viewed at https://executeastrategy.com]

Professional bio

Patrick Ow is a strategy execution specialist, corporate facilitator, personal coach, educator, and Chartered Accountant with over 25 years of international risk management experience.

He helps corporate executives and individuals execute their strategies and personal plans to get breakthrough results using The 7 Habits of Successful Strategy Execution. Visit https://executeastrategy.com or email patrick@executeastrategy.com for details.

Patrick has authored several eBooks including When Strategy Execution Marries Risk Management – A Practical Guide to Manage Strategy-to-Execution Risk (available in Amazon).

In addition to his professional work, Patrick has a personal passion for preparing individuals for the future of work.