We at Tata STRIVE (the pedagogies, the models, the STRIVE Way

Ameya Vanjari Head, Technology & Innovations TCIT

We must ‘rehearse the futures’ and proactively ‘shape the new normal’.

Life…Post-COVID 19 (Episode 1)

We learn from our experiences, our pasts. This pandemic is unprecedented. There has been nothing like this for us to learn from and predict. This article is based on what I’m currently experiencing, reading, learning through conversations, and apply the learning to our context at Tata STRIVE.

In the recent past, some extreme predictions have gone all wrong. Certain predictions made during the financial meltdown in 2008 or the 9/11 or 26/11 were extreme. These include predictions like ‘end of SUVs’ or ‘no more outsourcing’ among others. These were far from what emerged post the event. However, certain predictions came true, the changes prevailed, and eased into our day to day lives. More stringent corporate governance, security at airports, hotels, malls, and offices are examples of changes that stayed and became part of the new normal following a recent catastrophic event.

Similarly, in “life post-COVID 19”, some changes will stay with us in the new normal. The pandemic is causing a much larger disruption than compared to the events mentioned above. The impact thus will be significantly greater and disruptive than any of the previous experiences we have had.

The change will be complex, it will span across all entities in our skilling ecosystem. On one hand, our funders may reprioritize skill development, some industries will experience significant slowdowns, some may see increased demand, the mindset of our communities has already been shifted. So, predicting changes will not be straightforward. We need to keep thinking about the factors driving changes and our responses. This process of thinking deep is what a colleague use to call –‘rehearsing the future’. The more you rehearse, the more insights you gain, and better you are prepared and better you respond.

To ‘rehearse the futures’ let us look at the changes we would see across the three key pillars in our value chain. There are other entities which will drive changes –e.g. Government norms for skill development, NSDC, etc. Still, for simplicity sake, I’m prioritizing the three below over others; namely,

1. Youth and communities, we serve 2. We at Tata STRIVE (the pedagogies, the models, the STRIVE Way) 3. Jobs, Industries and livelihood opportunities we address