Owning & Addressing 2022

Normally, the start of a new year is heralded with renewed verve, new goals and a new drive towards higher levels than those achieved the previous year. The question “where to from here” is posed to people rearing to go and requiring only to be pointed in the direction of what needs slaying.

Whilst we have reported for duty with a New Year veneer on, there is a flicker of uncertainty behind the eyes of many. In the same way as “normal” has developed somewhat over the past two years, so has most people’s offering and approach to 2022. The suggestion that 2022 may be more of the “new normal” is met with courageous laughter that tapers off into nervous chuckles, and questions about how we’ll innovate this year are met with blank, wide-eyed stares. Why is this, and what does it mean for 2022?

Human beings are resilience survivalists who have very literally evolved over centuries — overcoming, inventing and progressing at every turn. This year will be no different. What may be different is the way we go about that resilience, survival and progression because where we find ourselves at the start of this year is markedly different to much of our most recent history. Consequently, our needs have changed.

Human beings are driven and fed by connection and our ability to “see” a future we’re inspired to move towards. It makes sense, therefore, that prolonged periods where those drivers are disrupted would have consequences. When I…