In order to continue growing, we must figure out not only how to survive this crisis, but how to come out of it stronger
On one of the last days of 2019 I received my senior citizen card in the mail. That dubious recognition was given to me at what felt to me like the pinnacle of my personal, professional and social development. Retire now?
My octogenarian musician friend is still active composing and conducting chamber ensembles, musicians and singers, but is afraid he might not be physically up to continuing his activity. He illustrates for me that age is not determined only by when a person was born, but by their ability to fulfill the purpose of their life. I shared my feelings with him: “You’re relevant when you create music, when students ask for your guidance, and when there are people who like your work and craft.”
It brought to mind the words of the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard: “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” I decided to pursue experience. To continue what the Israeli playwright Hanoch Levine called “the craft of life.” I may yet have a quarter century of life ahead of me, in the stage author Zvi Lanir calls “the wisdom years.” Now is the time to be relevant.
Relevant to whom? To my reference community – to build the community in which I want to live. For me this means the cluster of communities comprised of Lean management philosophy activists all over the world, the community of entrepreneurs and management researchers, Israeli civil society, and of course my family and circle of close friends. We are all connected to a breathing network of communities, which throughout the journey of life changes, comes apart, and regroups depending on the changing circumstances.
Equipped with a new idea, I revived a network of relationships with a group of managers, entrepreneurs, industrialists, technology people, senior members of the healthcare, medical, finance, and insurance systems, and marketing and operations people, whom I have supported as a professional mentor through the process of adopting the Lean management philosophy – the Lean Transformation. I was happy to discover that we all shared the purpose of “building the community in which we want to live.” Within a short time period a working group was created, an entrepreneuring community that decided to embark on a common journey to realize the goal of building a community for members of “the wisdom years.” The temporary name became an active group on the social networks: The Community Initiative.
The coronavirus pandemic accelerated the crystallization of the group and made the idea extremely relevant. This crisis event is serving as a laboratory to test our ideas. The members of the wisdom years have been defined as an at-risk population and instructed to seclude themselves at home, and their family members who have been laid off work and school are prevented from visiting them. My contemporary friends report that the hardship of loneliness exceeds their fear of the coronavirus.
I presented to the initiative group the product design philosophy based on the principles of LPPD and Lean Startup as a working framework (for the coronavirus crisis). We set working rules for an agile framework of weekly sprints in which we would test the initiative’s ideas in practice.
On the first week of activity we decided to launch a PDCA circle as the first step in a dynamic learning program (planning). The basic idea is to create community surrounding grandfathers and grandmothers, beginning with the nuclear family and expanding to circles of associates based on trust and acquaintance. The younger generation would undertake to stay in touch with grandma and grandpa (biological or adopted).
The need to create structure and a schedule led us to design a community shared calendar – “Grandma and Grandpa’s calendar” – as a platform for brief virtual meetings between the young caregivers and the grandparents secluded at home. One family member would undertake the role of “community organizer:” they would be in charge of who is supposed to call, when, the contents of the conversation.
Reactions began to come in within one day. Following are some examples:
- “Yesterday we went online with all of our children and grandchildren, including the ones overseas, on Zoom… Each grandchild got time to make everybody else happy…”
- “Our eight grandchildren (aged 8-32) opened a group with Grandma and Grandpa yesterday. They began a round of video calls. It was fun. The first thing we realized is that we have to upgrade my father’s smartphone…”
- “These days my parents and aunt are completely isolated (they are 65+). Usually they are very active and help with the grandchildren. Since yesterday my aunt has been sending my daughter, her great niece, videos of herself reading stories the little one likes. They are both very happy about it…”
- “We upgraded a group that was inactive. We changed the name of the family group to ‘we’re all here for Grandpa and Grandma.’ Of course everybody scheduled themselves in happily. It turned out they are not bored at all. For them everything is as usual. But we’re doing our part.”
The power of purpose
The coronavirus crisis, which befell us two months after I received my senior citizen card, showed me I can still be relevant. Personal, organizational and social resilience are important for facing crises, but we all also need a purpose, something to get up for in the morning, for the work of life to continue being relevant. In order to continue growing and developing, we must figure out not only how to survive this crisis, but how to come out of it stronger.
One of the members of the initiative group wrote: “The initiative and work in the entrepreneurship team serve me as an oxygen line in an atmosphere of suffocation.” My oxygen is the community with which and in which I wish to continue living.
Boaz Tamir, ILE.
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