Feature | The great adaptation: How uncertainty can help us succeed
THE GREAT ADAPTATION:
HOW UNCERTAINTY CAN HELP US SUCCEED The Great Fire of London in 1666 was a dramatic tragedy: a catastrophic four-day inferno, destroying 80 per cent of the City of London and leaving 80,000 people homeless. Close-built wood and straw buildings, densely populated alleys and dry conditions created a recipe for disaster, which was only brought to an end by Navy-assisted explosions in a last-ditch attempt to create firebreaks. As terrifying and horrible as this experience likely was for those living through it, destructive events have a way of necessitating new and improved ways of doing things. What 17th-century Londoner would have known that a fire sparked in a baker's shop on Pudding Lane would lead to a historic transformation in the future design and management of their whole city? The Great Fire of London is but one silver-lining example; human history is freckled with big problems that have led to great improvements. While adaptation in the face of adversity is nothing new, it's still very challenging, especially when the problems being solved are incomparable with anything we've experienced before. Hindsight helps us understand past challenges but, when we are in the midst of new ones, the pathway forward is often laced with uncertainty. Industries across the world are adjusting to new ways of working, largely a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, we're hell bent on finding innovative ways to become sustainable faced with what will be the greatest challenge yet: climate change. Considering how big and unprecedented these challenges are, the adaptation pathways we are embarking on will be no easy journey – uncertainty is rife at every corner. So, how can we find our way through unknowns and towards the right solutions if we don't have any idea what they are? 18 Consulting Matters
Image: Aurecon
What follows The Great Resignation? One of the most immediate issues at play within our industries is a struggle to retain talent. In a widescale trend dubbed The Great Resignation, more and more people are changing career paths and workforces. While the pandemic has realigned people's personal priorities, the increase in transitions is also a result of pent-up demand created by pandemic-induced stagnation. Many industries ground to a halt, and uncertainty encouraged a lot of people to stay put. And now that things have begun to open up, people are on the move – both nationally and internationally, and within and outside their fields of work experience. While it's fantastic to see people feeling excited and empowered about pursuing new goals, there's no denying industries are experiencing this now more than usual and on a scale we haven’t really seen before. There are going to be considerable efforts expended in pursuit of retaining staff, retaining teams and retaining company culture, yet at the same time delivering well for clients. However, as with the Great Fire of London, we can also find opportunities in these challenging times. With more people changing jobs, there's a good chance of attracting fresh talent from diverse backgrounds that can bring new ideas and create more robust problem solving – some that we may never have thought of or achieved before. Who knows what kind of creativity and innovation we can uncover and unlock with this new-found diversity of thought?
