How our everyday life is changing: a new way of life, consumption and leadership

The pandemic and self-isolation launched a process of change, affecting the mood of the people and influencing social relations. What metamorphoses are already taking place in our everyday life, everyday life and consumption?

What has changed in personal strategies, how leaders behave and why people do not change quickly were discussed by the participants of the online conference within the framework of the project “Antifragility” SKOLKOVO Business School.

Galina Yuzefovich

Literary critic, professor at the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO and book club host.

We are now facing – on social media and beyond – a lot of aggression. All this aggression, as a rule, is not targeted: people react in this way to a new unusual situation.

Ruben Vardanyan

Investor, venture philanthropist and entrepreneur, founding partner of the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO.

Due to the pandemic, the problem of choice in a variety of planes has become aggravated in society. For example, doctors choose which of the patients to save – after all, there are not enough medical resources for all – and give preference to the young. Businesses need to decide whether or not to fire people, whether to keep the business at all costs or close. This problem of choice is little discussed—less than it should be.

We also encountered another interesting phenomenon. On the one hand, everyone is isolated within their family, and on the other hand, we suddenly found ourselves very interconnected. The whole world has found itself in the same situation, and what is happening in the world now worries us more than ever.

Irina Prokhorova

Public figure, editor-in-chief of the New Literary Review magazine.

So far, I do not see any excesses that would come from below. Quite the opposite: the feeling that society itself is set up for interaction, consolidation, for mercy.

We are dealing with a situation where spontaneous grassroots humanization and the desire of people to help each other runs into a habitual form of violence on the part of the state, which does not at all consider that people can be appealed to, called to consciousness. This, it seems to me, is very curious.

During the post-Soviet period, different strata of Russian society have come a long way. But the request for humanity coming from him does not meet with any welcome from the authorities. And this request, it seems to me, is very large.

The archaism of the management system and inconsistency with the demands of society have always existed, but the crisis reveals the main faults in the social fabric. Now we see it.

I would not like to see further demarcation of society and the state. They are already in a system of difficult relationships and alienation from each other. I fear that this gap may widen.

The talk about the fact that there is a crisis now, people are having a hard time financially and therefore they have no other requests, say, for self-respect, personal dignity, is not true.

Andrey Shishakov

Professor of Practice at the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, executive coach.

Society is really “waking up”. Attempts are growing from below to understand exactly how and whether budget money is spent correctly, why everyone is locked up at home, while at the same time someone calmly paints fences on the street, re-tiles and curbs. The authorities, in turn, see what people write on social networks and react.

Halyna Yuzefovich:

The pandemic and restrictions have greatly slowed down the flow of daily life. Trips and meetings are canceled for a long time ahead. The self-isolation regime forces a lot of quality time to spend with the family. This is a new experience and an opportunity that either did not exist at all before, or was much less.

For reading now it is better to choose what will be good from. This is not the time to read books that require the expenditure of strength: read what will give you strength, a resource.

Ruben Vardanyan:

So far, we do not realize what an increase in domestic violence awaits us, what an increase in alcoholism and depression has already occurred. A lot of people are in a closed space, even an apartment – it’s very hard.

It must be admitted that not all families are happy and not everyone was ready to live 24/7 together. Previously, people often communicated with their family only in the evening at dinner and watching TV and in the morning at breakfast, that is, they lived, in fact, each separately.

Also, for many, communication with neighbors turned out to be unexpected – most of us simply did not know them in the realities of the XXI century.

Other problems also emerged. In addition to the impossibility of getting a divorce due to non-functioning registry offices, for example, the closure of cemeteries has led to the fact that now it is even impossible to say goodbye to a deceased loved one normally.

Irina Prokhorova:

In times of crisis, we learn a lot about ourselves. It turned out to be quite simple to reorganize the work to a full remote location. This process was already in full swing, but there was a lot of inertia.

Now it turns out that with Zoom it was possible to hold online meetings before, but it just didn’t occur to me.

Weak computerization in our country outside large cities has led to the fact that children do not study at all – there are only one or two computers in schools for everyone, and there are none at all in homes in the outback.

Maybe after the coronavirus the government will understand the problem and give money for computers in schools and provide home internet.

The percentage of distance education will increase one way or another. But the degree of unpreparedness of our school education was amazing. Just like healthcare, where the whole scale of optimization has become clear now, they have been re-optimized.

Andrey Shishakov:

In conditions of self-isolation, many became interested in the experience of the life of astronauts in orbit. But besides the astronauts and submariners who accomplish the feat, it makes sense to study the experience of prisoners.

It is hard for children to study online, they are now watched much more closely by teachers, there are fewer opportunities for private life.

Self-isolation index in our country by city (April 18, 2020 compared to a normal Saturday before the pandemic)

Andrei Sharonov

President of the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO

What is new in a crisis is the growth of uncertainty. In this situation, it is not the compulsion to work from home, which is generally even more comfortable, that is oppressive, but a lack of understanding of how long this will last, how long problems will accumulate – domestic, personal, interpersonal, industrial.

The working day has become much longer. After all, there are no moving, and you spend more time reading, email, Zoom, Skype, communication. Sometimes work has to be stopped rather than finished, because the process itself will not stop.

Sergey Volkov

Cosmonaut

We have not plunged into a vacuum – we have networks, television, ordinary phones. That is, we still have almost unlimited access to communication with people.

It is easier for cosmonauts than for people who are suddenly forced to pack their day at home, because the cosmonaut is preparing for his flight for a long time, and the program of his stay on board the station is planned for six months and is detailed. When you’re at the station, Earth makes up the schedule for you.

In the current self-isolation, it is important to try, if possible, to keep yourself in some kind of schedule and rhythm – this disciplines.

The main difference between an astronaut or another person whose profession is associated with isolation – for example, a sailor or a polar explorer – is that in any case he is ready for restrictions and the associated responsibility.

And people, of course, are not ready to get sick and get infected, especially with complications to go to the hospital. This is a radically different situation.

I woke up with the thought that I was already an adult, I had been working for a long time and the exams were all over … But I never dreamed of such that there was some kind of reality.

Andrey Shishakov:

People began to experience interesting internal reflections about consumption: do I need what I needed until now in such quantities? Do you need so much sociality, news, things? And so on… These reflections show that people’s needs change a lot.

We also put things in order, deeds, contacts – there is an inventory in terms of patterns of behavior, consumption and life in general: do we need what we needed before?

Those who, in the conditions of self-isolation, began to spend more time with their children, find Scandinavian consumption in them: young people do not need as much as those who are now 50 years old.

Irina Prokhorova:

The younger generation around the world is calling for smart consumption. They do not have the Soviet trauma of poverty and scarcity, when you think: “what if toothpaste disappears?”

I think the main task of the state and society after the coronavirus is to somehow prevent a terrible drop in living standards.

This shows both the fragility of civilizational processes and, in a sense, testing people: how to continue helping your neighbor without panic in a situation where you are afraid that you yourself will no longer be enough.

Halyna Yuzefovich:

Now it is quite difficult to maintain information hygiene, because information breaks through from all sides. It is not always necessary to hurt yourself with additional knowledge about what you cannot influence.

It is better not to sort out the information. Otherwise, it is very easy to slip into a situation where you sit and endlessly scroll through news feeds, horrified, drive yourself into a dead end and absolutely lose control over yourself, over your own emotions.

I read the news twice a day for 10-15 minutes through a limited set of specially selected sources. Previously, it was possible by itself, but now, due to self-isolation, you have to press yourself with your knee to stay within the limits.

Ruben Vardanyan:

For the last ten years at least, I have not watched the news at all – I deliberately severely cut myself off from them. Even despite the current situation, I do not follow the news.

I receive diverse information from all over the world through networking – a wide range of people whose opinions and assessments I trust – and not through some news institutions, TV channels or newspapers.

This makes it possible to receive less garbage and not fall into a huge waterfall of incomprehensible data, fakes and everything else – a stream that still needs to be absorbed, digested and somehow reacted to it.

Andrey Shishakov:

Coronavirus needs to find a place: let’s say that it takes 2%, 3% or 10% of your life in terms of information hygiene. And the rest of the time to spend on yourself and the search for personal solutions.

The growth of TV viewing in our country in the middle and end of March (by age groups)

Andrey Sharonov:

I realized at first glance a strange thing: I do not need urgent news. They add little: no matter how quickly I learn a fact, it doesn’t change much in my life.

The non-stop incoming stream of news seriously affected my rhythm and constantly distracted me.

Ruben Vardanyan:

Now is the right time for philosophical analysis: who are you, what do you want to do in the future? A good opportunity to rethink options for future development and invest in it.

You don’t have to make decisions immediately. But on the horizon of three months, when everything settles down, there will definitely be this opportunity.

Andrey Shishakov:

Any dramatic events and “black swans” motivate us to a complete revision of personal and corporate strategies. There should also be a strategy for the period of quarantine, and not just for post-crisis life.

The whole society found itself in this situation. We have the opportunity to go home – in quarantine – in the winter, go out in the summer – and come out as new people! This new version of yourself is actually a big chance for everyone to reboot.

In self-isolation, we are doing things that we have never gotten our hands on before. The non-urgent comes to the fore because the important starts to fall off on its own.

You can’t prepare for everything, but in the future, events like the coronavirus will probably occur with a certain frequency, and in terms of preparing for them, there is a lot to learn from big business.

In such a case, large companies, conservatively assessing risks, prepared for themselves reserve headquarters, communication channels. You can also ask yourself the question: do I have a reserve headquarters where I can go in a crisis situation?

Most of the people who are employed are faced with the fact that suddenly their only source of income began to shrink. It’s time to think like an organization: I will never again have one source of income – there will be several.

Forecast for the growth of some industries in our country in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic (top 3: video streaming, food and medicine delivery)

Andrey Sharonov:

People come to work to create goods and services, and not sit in the office. If you can create them without sitting in the office, then you don’t need to do this.

Now there will be discoveries – that this or that business is not so connected with the office. The office was just a habit to live without, and even better because of the lower costs.

The idea of ​​reducing staff in a crisis is absolutely healthy. You save a business that after some time can recover to its former size and absorb this or even more workforce.

If you save the company, you’ll save jobs, bring those people back, and maybe even recruit more. And if you don’t make cuts based on the best intentions of supporting people – as much as possible until there are enough resources, then in the end you can lose business and this is unlikely to do good to people.

Andrey Sharonov:

Fundamentally, the crisis will not change people, and the principles of leadership will not change much either. The basic principles of leadership are that it is an ongoing process, always associated with influence, not subordination, in a group of people with the recognition of this leader and for some purpose. In a pandemic, all this remains – except perhaps the pace is changing.

Many things will remain relevant. For example, an important part of leadership is empathy, and as a result of the crisis, it will not go anywhere.

With the transition to remote work, the problem of control by leaders has worsened. But if this problem was faced by one or another leader in a normal situation, that is, without the influence of the coronavirus, this is bad and means that the team of such a leader is poorly motivated. If the leader solved the problems of motivating employees before the crisis, then the transition to remote work changes almost nothing.

This is a new requirement that emerged a few weeks ago and is due to the confusion of people forced to live in a much more uncertain situation.

As in any crisis, now the supply of labor significantly exceeds demand. There is a mass layoff, people are idle.

Some employers poach people from competitors and look critically at those who are already out of work.

Halyna Yuzefovich:

Many of us have already experienced a similar crisis – at the decline of the USSR, and therefore there are associations with that terrible isolation that was shrinking around us at that time.

Then it suddenly became clear that all the old mechanisms built by the Soviet government had stopped working, but there were no new ones. It is not clear how to live: you find yourself in a vacuum. It was isolation in fact in the apartment, because everything outside it was not very clear and potentially dangerous.

Of course, there was a different feeling than now from the pandemic, but purely mechanically, this is what an association arises with. At the same time, the coronavirus is a danger of a different nature, and there is a sense of community rallying against it.

Irina Prokhorova:

I remember the early 1990s, when there was a real crisis. It seems to me that this pandemic is still incomparable with the social collapse that was in 1991. Then people discovered qualities in themselves that they simply could not think of in Soviet times.

What we saw in the XNUMXth century – sharp leaps, scientific and technological revolution, changes in the way of life and lifestyle in all areas – led to two terrible world wars.

Ruben Vardanyan:

If you look at the history of mankind, especially the history of Europe, after the most difficult crises – wars or pandemics – a process of rapid development began, new realities appeared and opportunities opened up.

The 100% crisis will give impetus to a large number of changes in cultural terms, everyday life, people’s behavior, business and its relations with employees, between the state and citizens. We are waiting for a fairly large number of changes.

We all think that what is happening to us is unique. In fact, history goes in circles. There have been similar situations, this is not the first such case. We are still going through problems in a milder form compared to what happened before.

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