Beyond Coronavirus: The Path to the Next Normal

The COVID-19 is not only an immense health crisis–it’s also an imminent restructuring of the global economy, but leaders can begin navigating beyond the coronavirus crisis.

Source: www.mckinsey.com

In answer to the question “What will it take to navigate this crisis” the authors call on businesses and governments to act across five stages, leading from the crisis of today to the next normal that will emerge after the battle against coronavirus has been won:

1. Resolve: All those in leadership positions must determine the scale, pace, and depth of action required at the state and business levels and resolve to do what it takes.
2. Resilience: A McKinsey Global Institute analysis indicates that the shock to our livelihoods from the economic impact of virus-suppression efforts could be the biggest in nearly a century. In the face of these challenges, resilience is a vital necessity.
3. Return: Returning businesses to operational health after a severe shutdown is extremely challenging and the weakest point in the chain will determine ultimate success. The authors suggest using Northern Hemisphere’s summer months to expand testing and surveillance capabilities, health-system capacity, and vaccine and treatment development to deal with a second surge.
4. Reimagination: Institutions that reinvent themselves to make the most of better insight and foresight, as preferences evolve, will disproportionally succeed. The crisis will reveal not just vulnerabilities but opportunities to improve the performance of businesses.
5. Reform: Leaders in government, business, healthcare, the financial system, educational institutions, and more should think about what reforms are needed to avoid, mitigate, and preempt a future health crisis of the kind we are experiencing today and to strengthen the system to withstand acute and global exogenous economic shocks, such as this pandemic’s impact.

Collectively, these five stages represent the imperative of our time: the battle against COVID-19 is one that leaders today must win if we are to find an economically and socially viable path to the next normal.