“Many companies are wondering how to deal with the situation and the economic consequences. And that's why technologists are still in demand,” said Kai Bender, Head of Germany at Consultancy.eu
The Coronavirus outbreak marks a major blow for technologists. However, like any crisis, it could also present an opportunity, according to the leaders of four global strategic consulting firms.
The global outbreak of the Coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, has seen the potentially deadly disease cause a wave of panic to travel and movement around the countries afflicted so far.
The consulting industry has already been noticeably impacted by the global pandemic in a number of ways. Being regular travellers makes tech experts particularly susceptible to the virus’ spread, while the financial downturn the pandemic seems almost certain to provoke will likely have a large impact on their revenues. “Customers are unsettled about the possible effects on employees, customers and the economy,” said Shivsankar Barik, VP Delivery of Inovar Consulting.
At the same time, a crisis is also a strong driver of creativity and innovation. One can already observe ample creativity and innovation emerging at the national, institutional, organizational, and individual levels across all industries as innovators are jumping in to help. What this variety of innovations will have in common is that they will solve problems, which is always at the heart of innovation. They will also be driven by the intense human desire to help, to connect with other people, and be part of the solution when things get tough.
Reinforcing the expected rebound for tech experts is the fact that digitization is a trend that is here to stay. In today’s rapidly digitizing world, organisations can no longer disregard automation and the adoption of technologies, and digital is key for any business to survive in a post Coronavirus world. While the pandemic may slow some things down, digital will remain the largest business driver of consulting spend.
What is it about crises that breeds so much innovation? There are two key shifts that occur during a crisis that foster the conditions for new thinking and doing. Understanding these can help leaders seize the opportunity to drive useful change with the help of technologists.
Seeing the System Differently
Leaders often leverage tech experts to get a fresh, outside perspective on their organizations to find opportunities to innovate. A crisis can have much the same effect, putting the spotlight on vulnerabilities, problem areas great and small, that we’ve been ignoring or are just plain unaware of. When a crisis hits, we are forced to confront the truth about how our systems work. The places where things could be done better or more efficiently become glaringly obvious. All of a sudden, opportunities for innovation are staring us in the face.
Creating a Bias Toward Action
Crisis demands movement and change – the pace of ideation, decision making, and implementation all increase exorbitantly. We have seen that an organization that normally gets trapped in “the intense study of the obvious” now must force itself to quickly create experiments, see what happens, and experiment some more. This process of experimentation allows the freedom to test different thinking, to fail fast, to learn, and to move forward – in short, to innovate – a skill tech enthusiasts are an expert in.
The new age of constant disruption is only just kicking in, and as a result, crisis management is becoming a more common occurrence for organizations. It’s essential that corporate innovation leaders play an active role in resolving these situations and position the organization to be more flexible, responsive, and socially oriented over time. Some may view this is a challenge, but we see it as a key opportunity for innovation leaders to step up and position themselves as adding value, where and when it’s needed most.
