I appreciate everyone who reaches out asking me what I think the "new normal" will look like after #COVID. I am touched that you care about me and my ideas. So please forgive me, but I cannot lie. I have no clue. Neither do you. But I have a few hints, so I'll do a little thread.

This is not the time to be a futurist, whether you are a manager, or just a management writer. This is the time to focus on the present. This is not the time for imagination either. In a crisis, imagination can be very painful. When we are in pain we often only imagine more pain.

If you really want to know what the new normal will look like, look around, pay attention, and make notes of what habits you are getting into now. 'Now' will last long enough for those habits to set. The new normal might end up looking a lot more like today than we all think.

Just one example. Many teams are discovering human decency at the start of a meeting. They check in on each other before jumping into the task. It will be hard to go back to being the usual careless colleagues that we once were. We might but it will cost us more than it once did.

Research on loss aversion shows that we are more disturbed by losing something we once had than by not having it in the first place. There is no reason that should not apply to a little more humanity and care at work.

If the new normal ends up looking like today, try to make it a good day. Set norms that you can live with, and that people might not want to leave for. Then you'll have been a futurist who cares for people now. That's a good leader, if you ask me, both new and normal at once. End