The Cost of Saying “No” Just Got Expensive

2020 brought with it a new decade with a strong stock market and strong growth forecasts. In January, companies were growing and everyone was looking at 2020 to be a transformational year in a booming global economy.

Then, suddenly, we went to alarming numbers in the stock market, a lockdown of all nonessential businesses, unemployment and the now common phrase “social distancing.” Millions are quarantined to their homes, only leaving for exercise, groceries or emergencies. Simultaneously, organizations and individuals who traditionally say “yes” to trying new things with innovative strategies and tactics now feel mounting pressure to say “no.” The culprit: COVID-19 and the global pandemic.

The Exponential Pandemic

This global pandemic has quickly taught us a lesson in exponential growth. We find ourselves dangerously unprepared for a virus that doubles every three days when left to spread, and we have discovered as a human race that being agile and reacting quickly is proving increasingly ineffective as situations change on a daily basis. The exponential spread of the virus is a Soft Trend likely to continue. The good news is that it is not a Hard Trend, a future fact, meaning there is something we can do to change this negative deadly trend.