This site began life in a series of papers developed between April and August 2020. It was prompted by a recognition that thinking strategically in a time of crisis is almost a contradiction in terms. 

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The immediate pressure of crisis requires action based on, hopefully, the smooth implementation of prepared contingency plans for disaster recovery. 

 

However, crises are transient, and a form of normality is essential either because the crisis abates entirely or because we come to live with a permanently changed set of circumstances. 

 

The world has always been Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) and Covid has brought that home to many of us in ways we perhaps did not adequately anticipate and/or for which we did not adequately plan. 

 

The most vulnerable moment comes in believing that a return to the previous normal is only a matter of time but Covid raises the prospect of permanent and radical change. 

 

While it is arguable that it is too early to tell how events will actually unfold there is something about the Covid crisis which is remarkable: it has shown that some of the things we took for granted are much more fragile than we believed. 

 

Whether they return in full or part remains to be seen but it would be a courageous individual who did not recognise the possibility that some things could be gone for good.  As with anything as complex and demanding as scenario planning, many brains are far better than one. 

 

While it has fallen to me to draft and marshal the text, this website is a product of a great deal of deep thinking and discussion with my colleague Daniel Robinson, with our associates Wendy Sammells and Fiona Duggan; and not least many hours of discussion with my good friend Julian Lomas of Almond Tree Strategic Consulting.  I am also indebted to Pam Baker for challenging thoughts on an early draft.

 

Thank you all for lending your minds and your time to the challenge.

 

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Bryan Thomas