Cataclysmic world-wide events, like COVID-19, often prompt people to reflect in life-changing ways. Long-forgotten assumptions surface. New perspectives emerge about well-established habits. Forced behavioral changes may foster novel and healthier responses to everyday events. Consider these musings and life-style questions that we might glean from this pandemic.
The gap between public proclamations and private thoughts is often so great that many people learn to ignore uncertainty altogether. As one person put it, “Around here, you’ve got to know all the answers. And even if you don’t, you learn to act like you do.” In short: certainty prevails, doubt does not. Read to learn how to embrace uncertainty during these unprecedented times.
During times of uncertainty, leaders can communicate about anything but they cannot communicate about everything. Therefore, they need to make wise choices. Over the last 30 years, we’ve led organizations during uncertain times and conducted research about this critical leadership challenge. We’ve distilled the lessons learned from our research and professional practice into three key insights:
Propagandists adeptly exploit the media tools of their era. Today, it could be argued that social media has made many people superficial thinking reactionaries more attuned to provocative images and sensationalistic claims than to reliable evidence and well-crafted arguments. Higher education does not necessarily immunize anyone from foolishness. This article explores how universities can neutralize today’s propagandists.
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