We are confused. The sun is shining, our vaccination programme is smashing it and yet we face a delay to the great unmasking. We are on the beach, but a red flag is flying.
In business, these shifting sands are intensifying levels of anxiety, leading to career reappraisal, churn, burnout.
As ever, uncertainty transcends the impact of right or wrong decisions.
If being up in the air (not in an aircraft) is to continue, we need to address this in the workplace by taking charge of change.
Literally set a date for defining how the organisation will blend the best of pre-COVID with the best of living with COVID, crystallised in a reset. From that moment, this will be the new us.
To prepare, ensure that cultural weathervanes (how colleagues assess the health of company values) have survived lockdown.
Identify what has been taken for granted and celebrate it.
Dial up face to face communication. Life on Zoom will have left gaps in key relationships.
The born-again date may have to change but what matters is the shared focus on a point of renewal.