Hello,
I hope you and your family are doing well.
I recently watched a fascinating talk on how an astronaut prepares physically and mentally to launch into space.
In this talk, NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, who traveled to the International Space Station in April 2021 shares some stellar lessons on how to be prepared for dealing with fear and uncertainty. She mentions a line that struck a chord with me -
Being ready at times could mean being ready to learn quickly while doing.
So true. And so relevant for today’s time.
This sentence is from the book by Pat Mitchell who is hosting the show. If you would like to listen to it in the context that she is speaking, you may watch the video at 7:00 mins. However, if you ask my view, this video is absolutely worth our 10 mins of attention.
Nothing in the world could have prepared us for a time like 2020 and 2021. So many things have changed in our professional and personal life. And we are left with no option than to adapt and learn newer ways while navigating through uncertainties.
This phase hasn’t been easy for many - neither for large businesses nor for small ones. There are some exceptional success stories where businesses have pivoted to the new world quickly. But many are still trying to make sense of the change. In fact, some are secretly hoping for the old environment to be back. Which seems unlikely for many business categories.
As mentioned in my last newsletter, our behaviors evolve in different ways post any crisis. Some sustain, some transform, and some collapse forever. The same holds true for our consumers’ behaviors too.
Continuing my last post further, here is a small framework that I have put in place to analyze and cope up with changed consumer behavior post-pandemic. I have implemented it for some of my projects. Having a now, next and beyond mindset has helped me plan for the next steps. Hope it helps you too. I will be honest, figuring out the “beyond” is not easy. But let’s take the first step by accepting the change and get ready to deal with it.
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy,
not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
-Socrates
Many businesses, especially the small ones need to get back. They don’t have the luxury of time to wait for things to be stable. They will have to unlearn and relearn new things. And that too now.
More power to all of you who are looking to restart after the pandemic pause. Even though you think you’re unprepared, you will get through this.
Cheers to a wonderful take-off,
Kanupriya
—
P.S: If you’re a small business owner or solopreneur and would like to learn the fundamentals of Product Marketing, you may check the first post of a ten post series here. This has been created especially for you, as I understand your requirements are niche. Hope you find the series to be worth your time. Thank you.