Kevin Sneader, global managing partner for McKinsey & Company, provides perspective on what corporate business leaders are thinking during the global coronavirus crisis:
One of the questions I find myself being asked a lot in these days is, can normal working be effective?
Well, I'm going to offer an answer that dates back 1665, the Great Plague of London, which led to the death of 15% of London's population and cast that shadow right across England. One place that it touched was Cambridge University, whose students were all asked to indulge in an early experiment in remote working. One of the students was Isaac Newton. And this was the year in which he invented optic theory and also saw an apple fall from a tree, thus discovering concepts related to gravity and escape velocity. Not bad for someone working from home. That's why actually a change of scenery, change of environment, can sometimes lead to new ways of thinking. And with that, innovations that previously have not been thought of. So, my question for you, what will be your Newton moment in these very difficult times?