The lack of adequate response by so many governments to the pandemic, even when plenty of positive and negative examples were already available from other countries that have been impacted before them, is a sign that maybe the mental models that are applied to the decision making are inadequate.
Jolting Adaptability
The pandemic is not merely exponential. As it is impacting with its assault on multiple supporting infrastructural elements of a community, region, a nation, the cumulative effect has an increasing acceleration, and it is jolting. The governments that work well in other scenarios can’t function when it is pushed beyond the limits of its adaptability and of the individuals that compose them.
The lockdowns now impacting half of humanity at least, are an unprecedented measure. Their effects are similar to that of a global war, in terms of the economic and financial turmoil that they potentially create.
So much of what we believed dogmatically to be impossible is now contemplated in order to prevent a social and financial collapse. The opportunity we have is to take advantage of this temporary open mindedness, and experiment with radical notions of economic and financial innovation, which can lead to a new social organization.
I will be talking about this at the ExO World Digital Summit on April 15, and I hope to see you there.