3 minute read
THE POWER OF REINVENTION
by Sarah Ratzlaff
As the end of 2021 draws near, I can’t help but take a moment to look back at another unprecedented year and reflect for a few moments.
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In 2020, the world bore witness to an international shut down of epic proportions. We stayed home and hunkered down. We lacked information (and toilet paper), treatments and any indication of when the pandemic would end. Surely this would be over in 1 month, 3 months, 6 months?
But in 2020, we were all in this together. All races, events, schools and activities were shut down. So we rallied and determined that our races, our finish lines, would continue on. We leveraged technology, created virtual finish lines and built online communities that had not existed before.
We adapted. We adjusted. We re-invented what life could look like.
As we moved into 2021, however, things looked a little different. We weren’t all still in it together in the same way. Some believed that vaccines were effective while others did not. Some states and cities opened up while others remained closed. Spring events cancelled or postponed while fall races bravely soldiered on. We began to plan 3 then 6 then 12 months ahead but also were prepared to make major adjustments the week of an event.
We adapted. We adjusted. We re-invented what life could look like.
As the pandemic has progressed, businesses have started asking more questions, opened up to new possibilities and are having different dialogues with their partners and customers. to continually reinvent, grow and adapt.
Before we know it, the “norm” will settle back in. This will become “how we’ve always done it” and we might not remember the two years that irreversibly changed us.
Delivery and online shopping apps have permanently changed our expectations for how we consume and receive goods. Prior to the pandemic, it was a luxury to expect curbside delivery from your favorite restaurant or grocery store. Now, most restaurants have a thriving delivery and curbside business and Uber Eats will deliver to my door within 30 minutes.
I drove past my local Target the other day and couldn’t help but think that their curbside pick up area looked like the start of a race. There were feather banners, branded tents and painted parking spots taking up half the lot. Even Target and Wal-Mart and every other supermarket chain has figured out a way to operationalize their teams and leverage technology to create a new way to engage with their brand.
Gone are the norms of assuming that tomorrow looks like yesterday.
Now, companies are nimbler and more prepared to change and adjust plans quickly. Rather than saying “no, that’s not how it’s done”, the new answer is now “let’s see if we can figure it out.”
Even the Boston Marathon, a race so deeply rooted in tradition that there is a holiday dedicated to it, found a way to carry on the mighty spirit of the marathon in September, rather than April, and facilitate incredibly powerful (yet virtual) finish lines across the world.
As we enter into 2022 and a world that appears to be fully open again, we have a unique opportunity - an opportunity to challenge ourselves
But what if “now” was always a good time for change? What if we embraced change and sought it out as a way to continually improve our products and events?
As we stand perched on the edge of a return to normal, I urge you to ask the question of how you can continually prepare yourself and your business for change. How can you embrace change and constantly evolve even when circumstances don’t force it?
WHAT IF WE EMBRACED CHANGE AND SOUGHT IT OUT AS A WAY TO CONTINUALLY IMPROVE OUR PRODUCTS AND EVENTS?
Each of us leaves this pandemic as changed people, a changed industry. But whatever 2022 will bring, and I’m sure it will bring a few surprises, I am certain of one thing in our industry.
That we will adjust. We will adapt. And we will continue to reinvent what life could look like.//
