A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, we are beginning to collectively recognize that even though we might be coming out of isolation, our work lives maybe, actually, truly aren’t going back to the way they were.

Have we said this many times since March 2020? Yes, we have.

Have we believed it? No.

Deep down we secretly hoped it would all just go back to “normal.” Deeper down we also secretly hoped it wouldn’t go back to normal. And this is a perfect example of the tension that we’ve been balancing for an entire year.

Perhaps tension is too weak of a word.

Perhaps, a better word to describe the work/life/society/community/family balance is pure chaos.

As a leader, I’m sure you’ve noticed a few of these tensions arise as you’ve attempted to navigate the chaos:

Employees are burnt out. Yet, there is a tremendous appetite for something new.
Employees are fed up. Yet, everyone is clinging to stability.
Employees aren’t looking for more of the same. Yet, everyone is stretched beyond their capacity and can’t take on any more.
Employees don’t want to work from home. And they certainly don’t want to go back to the office.
We’re done with this, but also, we aren’t done.

No decision has felt right. Every choice has seemed risky. All ideas are questionable. Any conversation could go awry.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but none of these tensions are new. They have always been there.

Rationally, we know that nothing ever goes back to “normal.” There was always a new normal lurking around the corner. We have always lived amongst tensions between reward and risk, between multiple competing desires.

Photo by Ethan Sees from Pexels — Photo by **Ethan Sees** from **Pexels**

I’m sure you are thinking, then why has this year felt so chaotic? Why do the tensions feel so new?

Crisis exacerbates existing issues, it doesn’t create them.

If you have come to recognize instability in a workplace relationship or disruptions in organizational culture, the bad news is that these aren’t new problems. They were always lurking below the surface (and, honestly, they were probably above the surface).

The good news is that now you know! And simply naming the issue is the first step to creating resilient change (what the Resilience Thinking Method refers to as the first ‘resilience habit.’)

Recognition is the first step, but not the last step.

As a leader, you have a tremendous opportunity right now to act and address points of breakdown in your teams and work flows. It might feel like these issues are COVID-19 issues, but they simply aren’t. And it doesn’t help anyone to wish them away or pray they’ll dissipate once the vaccine is widely available.

If an employee has expressed feeling isolated and lacking team support, consider how their position was set up for success (or failure) before they started working from home. If employees express that their workload is too burdensome, consider the systems in place that distribute workload. Likely they were there before the pandemic.

So, what now? Well, as I’ve mentioned, the first step is always recognizing that you have a problem.

The second step is recognizing this isn’t just a COVID problem.

And, the third, fourth, and fifth steps are all focused on authentic curiosity and empowered action. I’ll be discussing these concepts and more on the blog and in The Resilience Reader, our weekly newsletter.