The Post Pandemic World: A New Engagement Model Towards A More Equitable & Sustainable Humanity
The scope of the current global crisis is unprecedented – it’s akin to the Spanish Flu Pandemic, the Great Financial Crisis and Cold War transpiring simultaneously. No other event comes even close to it in terms of its widespread consequences on lives and livelihoods. It is also becoming clear that there is a disproportionately negative impact on the weaker sections of society – whether it is the poorer families or ethnically disadvantaged communities.
There is another geopolitical shift happening. Historically, military and economic cooperation (or conflict) were in sync. The key reason for the army was to expand the economic sphere of influence. But post World War 2, economic and military aspects started diverging – countries and blocs engaged in commercial activity despite being at odds geopolitically. Institutions like WTO were formed to address financial issues explicit from the political affiliations. However, in the past few years, we are witnessing a re-convergence of military and economic muscles, most notably between the US and China. This polarization is also reflected in other areas and is developing and deepening fault-lines, especially along religious, political and racial lines.
There have been efforts to address the most challenging issues facing humanity – development of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the formation of COP15 for climate change, or UNSC Resolution 2462 against financing terrorism. These are necessary steps at a global level to highlight the issues and work towards their redressal continuously. The current crisis presents an opportunity to scale up humankind’s response to global problems significantly and fundamentally change the way we think and act. To achieve the end goal, there needs to be a concerted effort at the top (by various leaders) and at the grassroots level (by individuals and communities).
There is a case for a new Engagement Model to drive humanity forward in a salubrious manner. There are four key constituents, besides history, that drive fundamental attitudes, and therefore behaviours – government, business, community and spiritualism. And, except for sporadic cases, we hardly see these four at a table together discussing key issues – whether global, national or local. Each constituent moves forward in a manner that it finds beneficial, engaging the other constituents only in times of need – for example, during elections. This is also to be expected – often, the objectives of these constituents are at odds.
The current crisis is an opportunity to develop such an Engagement Model. Mutual dialogue and consideration of views of all these constituents would ensure that key issues and decisions receive all relevant inputs. Such an Engagement Model will require two key considerations:
[A] Engage the right constituents
Any solution that aims for an improved future state needs to start with the ground reality of today. The days of “Kings Rule” of yesteryears are gone – at least in democratic countries. It's been remarkable to see how the philanthropic side of humanity has risen to address the adversity of the deprived. Across the world, we have seen massive moves by individuals, NGOs and corporates mobilizing funds, equipment, shelter and necessities for those in need. As millions, nay billions have been faced with mortality – whether own or in a close relationship – spirituality has been significantly rekindled.
Therefore, going forward, it would befit the engagement of the four critical constituents:
* Government leaders – political parties, administration officers
* Business leaders – senior managers from private-public enterprises, including SMEs
* Community leaders – NGO heads, academia leaders, grassroots organization officials
* Spiritual leaders – Thinkers & counsellors
Will bringing such disparate leaders together be a challenge? Of course! Will the decisions get slowed down? Most likely, yes. Is this utopian thinking? Most assuredly. But what better time than now to try to hit a reset button on the shape of human evolution? There will be many questions – who should represent each of these four constituents (especially government and spiritual)? How will we ensure collaboration rather than competition? How will structurally design accountability? Will bringing spirituality into the mix of key decision making case greater schisms? These are key issues that we will need to address – but the recent pandemic and cases of human inequality have shown us that people are willing, in fact, even yearning for a more compassionate humanity. Bringing the leaders from the above groups systematically and consistently, devoting time to specific community issues, and holding them responsible for time-bound solutions may well be the way to move forward.
[B] Establish effective mechanisms
Bringing the right leaders will be the necessary, but not sufficient step. We need to create arrangements that almost force (at least initially) these leaders to come together and discuss important issues. Left at a conceptual level, this idea will be interpreted differently by different constituents, which could weaken its implementation. While not comprehensive or optimal, there are two initiatives that we could drive inspiration from:
World Economic Forum – the annual meeting at Davos has drawn equal parts admiration for bringing regulators, business leaders & academia together and ridicule stemming from large scale protests. Whichever side one empathizes with, it is clear that it has become a regular fixture in the annual calendar. Moreover, probably bowing to large scale public protests for being too elitist and business-friendly, WEF has adopted several new themes for broader good – climate change and fairer economies to mention two.
IIMPACT – the bi-annual conference led by alumni associations of Indian Institutes of Management in Singapore has been exploring various themes. It has had leaders from each of these four groups represented in the past. While these sessions have been in the format of a conference, made up of speeches by eminent leaders on various topics, there exists an opportunity to utilize a similar form, albeit in an ongoing manner, to discuss the key challenges facing society.
It would behove us to test this Engagement Model through pilot programs to learn and iterate towards optimal solutions. Developing this Model will need action at the topmost levels of power as well as at the grassroots. It would be ideal to set up a few pilots, especially in smaller geographies – maybe at city or district levels – to improve the design of the Model, organize implementation steps, and simplify processes. Learning from these could help codify the optimal structure and systems that could then be rolled out for broader application. As the fourth estate, the role of media in bringing transparency and accountability for those in power will be very important in ironing out kinks and spreading best practices of this new Engagement Model.
The current state of the world is forcing questions at all levels – personal, family, community, company, country, and global. While the costs to lives and livelihoods have been appalling, it has brought about significant soul searching on the real challenges facing humanity and individuals. These are mammoth challenges, but engaging collaboratively with the right cross-section of leaders in a systematic manner may be the best way to try to unlock the path towards a much more harmonious and sustainable future. We owe it to humanity to try out such new solutions, lest future progeny hold us responsible for abjectly surrendering rather than at least making an attempt towards a more equitable mankind.
