It is often said that the future is already here, but that it is unevenly distributed. Thus, when a window opened for travelling and international business in February and March, was it also a window that offered a glimpse of which future(s) may be awaiting us?

There is a lot of talk about the lasting impact of Covid 19. Many individuals and organizations are ready to position themselves with (and make business from) more or less sound predictions and extrapolations.

This blog is not meant to predict or extrapolate, merely to wonder if something can be learned from a long trip.

Details first:

First stop: Dubai, easy to enter, just needed a PCR test. Early 2021 had seen spike many infections due to borders opening in the holiday season. Vaccination program running efficiently. Limited restrictions on business, but mask required. Tests easily available

Second stop: Bangkok. Difficult to enter, 14 days of quarantine, Certificate of Entry, Single- Entry Visa, PCR test, Health Certificate. Numbers consistently low, some restrictions and masks required in most situation. Temp. check at entry of buildings, but limited testing. Unfortunately, numbers have since gone up, but that is a different story.

Third stop:  Lugano, easy to enter from low infection countries, like Thailand. PCR test, and an entry document had to be filled out online. One of the few countries in Europe where numbers are declining. Medium restrictions on busines, e.g. restaurants can only do take away, masks required.

So, what might that say about a what could happen next?

The best part:

In-person and in-the-room sessions.

Two two-days client workshops + Three four-day facilitator training programs in LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® + Advanced facilitator training program in LEGO SERIOUS PLAY for experienced facilitators.

I will focus on the client sessions, because, frankly the training sessions very much like pre-Covid, except for the extra pre-cautions and a pronounced appreciation of being together and leveraging that.

The client sessions were both in Thailand and in collaboration with Narudee  “Poom” Kristhanin from Eureka Global. One with the executive leadership in a family controlled large South East Asian Company, the other with a matrix team from the Thailand Stock Exchange.  In a later blog Poom and I will look deeper at these, what we did and what followed

What stood out in all the sessions above is what I can only call a release of build-up energy, emotional and cognitive. The participants expressed a real need and desire to be together, to have the deep and difficult conversations, to problem-solve, and to create solutions. The leadership team from the family-owned company who had not been able to really handle this strategic issue had a strong emotional reaction, and really put a lot of thinking and energy into their key models (remember, we were doing LEGO SERIOUS PLAY), consequentially, instead of just getting the recorded videos and documentation, they insisted on keeping a number of their models, in order to bring these back to the office. They simply did not want to loose them, but keep them as reminders and guidance in the execution of the leadership vision.

A third session was moved to early February due to an unforeseen urgency. I had been part of facilitating the early stages or this process in remote workshops with LEGO SERIOUS PLAY, and the plan was for Poom and I to co-facilitate.

An executive meeting and a keynote were cancelled as the building was closed because of a Corona case.

A follow up workshop has already been delivered with the Stock Exchange by Poom and Eureka Global, and we are in conversation with the family company for more work later this year, when restrictions are down, and vaccinations. They want to keep the momentum in their change process, and leverage the power of in-person and hands-on conversations as soon as they can. As McKinsey also found in this study, problem-solving, innovation, creativity and handling critical issue is just better done in-person.

The necessary part

Test, tests and then a few more

Living in Denmark where we are going through a bit of test frenzy, this was only a minor inconvenience, but I certainly did a fair amount of testing, my nose has requested that I only do mouth swabs in the foreseeable future. The format for testing varied a lot, here are four examples: A PCR test done at my hotel by trained nurse, showing up in a break during a session, a quick antigen test in a pharmacy, a PCR test in a hospital which required a small medical examination first, and finally an antigen in the airport in Copenhagen before going through passport control.

Hard to imagine that this will go away in the near future, but tests are becoming more convenient and more self-administered, and they will then probably be backed up with a rule, similar to what I experienced in Lugano: If your antigen test is positive, then you are required to do a PCR test and isolate until the results are ready

ASQ; Alternative State Quarantine and much more paper-work

14 days in Bangkok during which I was reading, writing, listening to podcasts, and participating in virtual client meetings, educational programs, board meetings, and community meetings.

Not as hard as I thought it would be, yet, not certain I would do 14 days again. It proved how much we can do independent of place and reminded me very clearly of what we cannot. (Similarly confirmed the McKinsey study quoted above, and the experience with the client workshops)

Closing thoughts
Vaccinations are coming. Nevertheless, until it is known for sure that a vaccinated person cannot carry the infection, then I think we have to live with short(er) quarantines. Personally, I would not mind doing five days, and I think solutions like that might become common practise in an interim period.

We think better together and, we crave being together. We benefit from being together, not only cognitively, but emotionally and socially. This need is there, and it is real. I would expect that we will see it coming to the surface in more places as societies start opening up. I hope it leads to spike in new ideas, new solutions and not new infections! 

Whether it was just an opportunity to work with people again, and to travel; or it was a hint of what to expect, I did enjoy every moment of my days.

This probably ended up being my longest post yet, but always happy to hear thoughts, input or if you are curious about anything. Feel free to reach out by mail or on LInkedin