When we emerge from the coronavirus pandemic, America must seize this historic opportunity to transform its economy and the world through disruptive innovation.
Throughout history, pandemics have spawned periods of significant human advancement. The Black Plague ravaged the populations of Europe and Asia in just under five years, laying the groundwork for the Renaissance and unrivaled creativity. After the Spanish Influenza pandemic, America experienced a 25 percent increase in women’s workforce participation.
More recently, the financial crisis of 2008—an economic pandemic—ushered in cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and the gig economy—launching over 30 “unicorns” like Uber, Grubhub, and Airbnb.
Why do such crises trigger mass creativity? The structural drivers of innovation are powerful and profound, but subtle. Every act of creation, Picasso said, begins with an act of destruction, which should endow us with hope that a nation on pause is sure to flourish after this crisis.
To do this, however, Americans must heed more than survival instincts. We need a growth mindset.
Most organizations and institutions are performance-oriented, driven by quarterly numbers, and fear of failure. This hyper-focus on quantifiable productivity, while critical, hinders transformation by restraining forward-looking investment. Organizations, thus, become divided between transformation zone innovators and production zone operators. Full Article - American Greatness - By George Painter and Ed Powell
Pandemics That Changed History - As human civilizations rose, these diseases struck them down
Visualizing the History of Pandemics - Incredible Info-graphic
Trump Should Use the Pandemic to His, and America’s, Advantage
When Rahm Emanuel told audiences that former President Barack Obama should “never let a serious crisis go to waste,” he was applauded. Emanuel was referring to the Obama Administration’s response to the Great Recession. Clearly, President Obama agreed. Obama ushered in the greatest reorganization of the American socio-economic order under the auspices of resolving the financial crisis (which, of course, Obama never actually did resolve).
