As we eagerly anticipate the promise of a new year and better days ahead, there’s no mistaking the indelible stamp that 2020 has left upon each of our lives, our families, our jobs, and our businesses. But, the crises and upheavals of 2020 have also highlighted a fact that we so often fail to appreciate: human beings are astonishingly resilient. In the face of extreme adversity, we’re wired to adapt and to create new solutions that permit us to adjust to, and even thrive in, the new “normal.”
In 2020, intractable challenges accelerated our adoption rates of certain existing (and now, essential) technologies, such as telemedicine, mobile banking, and videoconferencing apps. Adopting these technologies helped us to adapt by reducing some of the risks posed by COVID-19.
And instead of extinguishing innovation, the crises of this past year spurred rapid, new innovation: contact tracing software; a vaccination records app; the logistics technology behind the massive COVID-19 vaccination effort now underway; and the technology behind the new, messenger RNA-based COVID-19 vaccines themselves.
Resilience is in our DNA. And in 2020, humankind has demonstrated that our drive to survive, and to thrive, continues to burn brightly.
Let’s harness that drive and change the world for the better in 2021.
Best wishes,
Karen
