Humanity 2.0 is rapidly emerging, unauthentic facades and professional personas are falling away, as we are seeking to normalise our new home and working lives. Fading are the old doctrines of dressing and behaving appropriately, fitting for our perceived social status, with the guise we did not have families or emotions. 

The mask has fallen, unveiling peoples' human lives, complements of web-based conferencing and meetings; operating from homes, kitchen tops and bedrooms, with the sights and sounds of children and pets aimlessly wandering into the foreground of meetings, unaware of the rules of appropriate business behaviour. And having only to half appropriately dress for work, is a liberating experience for many. The veil dividing work life from home life is weakening. The truth is, people have families and feelings that somehow were perceived not to exist in our organisational machines. 

Inequality is increasingly no longer socially acceptable. Caring and public transparency in dealings and relationships are emerging in preference to the old norm - greater the openness, higher the accuracy of decision making, enabling better use of resources. Weaker relationships are falling away, and good relationships are becoming stronger. 

Alliance with AI and Internet Technology

AI and the Internet are enabling humans to connect around the world, in ways previously never thought possible, for example, live translation into text and or speech – accelerating global empathy and understanding of differences. Diversity is no longer just a nice to have (tick box) policy. Diversity is a precious resource of love, wisdom, peace, family, positive energy, breakthroughs and intelligence. Which is something I realised recently during a values-based evolving leadership course, with participants from over 9 countries. 

Post-Lockdown - The New Norm?

The emotional journey we are all on, triggered by COVID-19, can be explained by William Bridges' Transitions strategy model (see graphic). After a traumatic event society experiences, anger, sadness and anxiety, before leading into, confusion impatience, curiosity and anticipation; this is where we are now before we start conceiving our 'new normal'. All these feelings are part of the transition process.

Regardless of business forecasting, the 'New Normal' will be determined by people's values and how they are behaving now, be that selfishly through fear, or selflessly caring with courage; and being publically open. These are unprecedented times, mistakes have been made, but its how people respond that we will remember: do we seek to hide the mistakes or be open and learn from the experience? For leadership and organisational cultures, this is particularly relevant; people will remember their actions when the chips were down. 

It's critical organisations comprehend, and perhaps revisit, their cultural values, as our values determine our behaviour. It's not until an organisation is fully aware of their (subconscious) values and motivations, can they build stronger relationships and understand or seek to transform their organisation's behaviour - ensuring it remains relevant in a changing market - values assessments are an essential component of business resilience and business continuity plans.

Rather than leaving it to others to speculate what our future will be, take an action step to help shape the 'new normal'. How? By completing the first Global Cultural Values Assessment, by Barrett Values, which is open until 5th May 2020. Share the assessment link with your friends and network, as the more people who complete it, the fuller the picture we will all have; so helping the world as a whole. The Barrett Values Global Cultural Values Assessment takes 15 minutes to complete, and it's free. In return, you can attend the Global COVID-19 Culture Assessment Results webinar on 20th May 2020.

If now is not the time to seek to understand our values, which determine our behaviour and motivators, when is?

Discover Your Personal Values - For Free

To better understand how insightful assessing someone's values are, complete a free Personal Values Assessment, complements of Barrett Values Centre, and discover what your values say about you. It takes 10 minutes and you receive an insightful report within minutes, including bespoke personal development steps.