Bob Finlayson is the Futurist. Tanner Latham is the Executive Producer. They’re both storytellers, and with these conversations about Creativity and Culture, they share their ideas and what’s inspiring them.
BOB:
Hi Tanner! Well, let’s dive right in. I think it’s become blindingly obvious we are living through one of the most transformative moments in modern history; a tsunami with massive economic and culture implications that will play out for years if not decades to come. Getting “back to normal” likely isn’t an option. The world will forever be changed by this pandemic. As Parag Khanna and Karan Khemka explain in their piece in Fast Company, the coronavirus is like an earthquake, with aftershocks that will permanently reshape the world.
TANNER:
I think it has revealed how “abnormal” our “normal” might have been. It uncovered so many fissures and gaps in our systems, but it also bushwhacked a lot of restrictive brush that was preventing creativity and innovation. I think we’ll speak about “Pre-COVID-19” and “Post-COVID-19” rather than our collective “normal.”
Pandemic Innovation in a Post-Pandemic World
BOB:
I like that demarcation. It helps to emphasize and remind us our past must be different from our future. And, perhaps, it provides an opportunity to think about how that future might unfold in positive ways. With every cataclysmic change there is also opportunity to reimagine our world. I think, never before have we needed our futurists and creatives across all sectors to help us reimagine in positive, supportive and sustainable ways our culture, our businesses, our economy, our government and our global institutions.
Some of the areas where new thinking is needed include, our healthcare system (obviously), our workspaces, even our work culture. Heading down to a very tactical level, one firm that seems to be getting an early start on the office of the post-pandemic-future is commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield, as reported by Mark Wilson, also in Fast Company. They’ve created in their Amsterdam HQ what they are calling “the six feet office.” Not sure if what they are suggesting is really possible, but I guess we have to start somewhere.
TANNER:
It’s not just giant companies coming up with post-pandemic ideas, we see many people contributing solutions. I think of all the people who have come up with novel ways to create masks for first-responders and medical professionals. Of course the big brands are there too. Louis Vuitton got a lot of love for its decision to make face masks. And famed Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka shared a simple way to create your own face shield.
BOB:
I tried that. It’s not so simple! But I get the point. As a species, we are incredibly resourceful when we need to be. I think we’ll see many more touchless faucets in public bathrooms and more automatic doors. Lots more ways to avoid touching services that could transmit disease.
Author Eugene Linden envisioned a post-pandemic world in a recent piece in Time. Linden suggested that while people “need to meet face to face,” such meetings will be more planned and less chance. So bars will be replaced with private clubs with vetting procedures to protect against carriers of infectious diseases. He also suggested office buildings would have entrances equipped with ultraviolet light to kill microbes.
The reimagining of office buildings and other public spaces might not be too far off when you consider a recent study out of China about the spread of the virus at a restaurant in Guangzhou. Turns out the air conditioning system may have been a significant factor in spreading the disease. So maybe virtual offices and spaces are the way to go, at least for now.
Is Virtual the New Social?
TANNER:
Though we’re distanced, we’re still longing to be social. Did you know that people are paying to get into virtual nightclubs?
BOB:
Have you tried it?
TANNER:
Ha! Not yet… But one quote from the story stuck out. A participant (wearing a Santa hat, nonetheless) said, “This is the cutting-edge, and I’m confident it will bloom into something else.” So much is blooming into something else that won’t be tethered to the pandemic. The best of our “new” behaviors will stick and become routine behaviors in the future. For example, my wife and I started doing virtual dinner parties on Saturday nights with close friends who live in different cities. We “Zoom” while we cook a shared recipe and then eat the full meal together. It’s been so fun, and on our first call we asked, “Why didn’t we ever do this before?”
Maybe virtual nightclubs aren’t for everyone, but clever entrepreneurs are already turning other types of gatherings into a business. Thanks to Noah Kaufman’s reporting in Conde Nast Traveler, we’re aware of how virtual wine tasting is a thing now.
“MacGyver’ed” Tricks Today Becomes Common Practices Tomorrow
BOB:
We did something similar to your virtual dinner party with our friends, but it was more drinking than eating! Thinking about virtual wine tasting, not only does it save gas and the environment, it also eliminates drinking and driving. It’s fascinating to see how creative people can be when faced with a new set of circumstances. Guess it gets back to that old saying about necessity being the mother of invention. Which has also been the case with the late-night talk shows and other live shows such as Saturday Night Live. Not sure any of them have it quite down right, but it’s fun to watch the entertainment industry try different ideas for creating that live experience virtually. Although, I have to say Dua Lipa’s performance of her hit “Don’t Start Now” on James Corden’s The Late Late Show was one of the best uses of Zoom I’ve seen!
TANNER:
I thought it was interesting how SNL shot the opening monologue with Tom Hanks. It notably wasn’t done using the traditional Zoom app setup, and I immediately wondered what they improvised to produce the livestream in his kitchen. He was shot with a high-end video camera, and his audio was captured using a digital recorder and lavalier mic. Did they send a small crew to his house? Did they ship him all the equipment and talk him through how to set everything up? These are all the challenges the video and film production industry is attempting to solve, and it will be several months before there is an agreed-upon protocol. Now, multiply that problem-solving by EVERY industry, and you have millions of us having to “think like MacGyver” immediately to work in a way they never had before.
BOB:
MacGyver-ing the future! Love that association. Although one area where we want to continue to see the methodical process is science. Yet it is still incredibly creative. As Bill Gates pointed out in his recent piece in The Economist, this pandemic is helping to hasten several important medical breakthroughs that will help us identify, control and treat future pandemics.
TANNER:
Much as Al Gore was an early voice warning about climate change, when this history of this pandemic is written, Gates will be remembered as one of the leading voices warning about future pandemics before anyone had heard of coronaviruses.
Will We Re-Think “Happiness” in the Post-Pandemic Future?
BOB:
Definitely.
As I think about our conversation, it gives me hope to see so many amazing ideas for reimagining our future. One of the most poignant pieces I’ve read about the pandemic came in a comment to a New York Times story about the negative price of oil. Basically the person pointed out that the lock down has forced people to shop less and consume less. Given that 70% of our annual GDP stems from consumption, if this experience convinces lots of people they don’t need to consume the same way they did pre-pandemic, we will need to retool much of our economy and even the way we think about what brings us happiness. Now that will truly require some creative thinking! Talk to you next time.