communication, are attributes that many organiza- make decisions and execute rapidly; who is able tions are now working to maintain. to take on new challenges and lead in the face of uncertainty; and who has the grit to persevere. 6. Make hybrid work, work. The next normal will see In many cases leaders have found emerging talent significantly more people working in a hybrid two-to-three layers down, people who rose to way—sometimes in person with colleagues on-site, the occasion and helped lead crisis-response and sometimes working remotely. This model can plan-ahead strategies. In other cases, they unlock significant value, including more satisfied have found that some leaders have become too employees and lower real-estate costs. There comfortable with the slower-moving bureaucracy are other benefits to a hybrid working model, includ- of the past. As one CEO told us, “We have learned ing access to a broader range of talent, greater more about our people in the last 12 weeks than flexibility, and improved productivity. through our traditional HR processes from the last 12 months.” Not only have CEOs gained To achieve these gains, employers need to ensure insight into who the future leaders are, but that the basics are in place to digitally enable remote they have also seen the value of rapidly deploying working and collaboration, while taking care to top talent to the most important work. Organi- create working norms that foster social cohesion. zations that do both things—find future leaders They should precisely define the optimal approach and redeploy talent skillfully—will be able to for each role and employee segment. That move faster. requires understanding when on-site work is better compared with remote interaction or independent One recent example comes from the Ford Motor work. Perhaps more important, hybrid organizations Company. In March, the automaker announced must adopt new ways of working that help build that it would produce face shields for healthcare a strong culture, cohesion, and trust even when workers—something it had never done before. To many employees are working remotely. Companies do so, a team of “unlikely characters” organized that were “born virtual,” many out of Silicon Valley itself and got to work, tapping into their own networks such as GitLab and Mozilla, and have sustained it to solve problems on the fly. One lesson: those successfully have very intentional policies, tech- who step up in a challenge, wrote one team member, nology, and working norms. These include open- “might not be who you expect.” Stepping up to source collaboration models, for instance, for this kind of challenge requires courage and a mind- software development; remote-first practices, set that encourages innovation and learning to such as videoconference by default; and rigorous come together—fast. “We came as beginners, and documentation of everything, from decisions to got smart on the job,” the team member wrote. meeting output to work in progress. Moreover, “Being a band of beginners means if you think of it, they make an effort to bring colleagues together you do it. There is no time for rank.” in person at least a couple of times per year to facilitate more connectivity and deepen relationships. 8. Learn how to learn. Consider the US Navy’s Top talent will leave companies with bad cultures newest “littoral combat ship.” These vessels can and slow responses. complete myriad tasks, such as hunting sub- marines or sweeping mines while operating in the The next three actions aim to reshape talent in shallows. One might think they therefore have a order to get tomorrow’s leadership team operational large crew of highly trained specialists. Not so. In today and to build the workforce capabilities of fact, these ships are run by just 40 “hybrid sailors,” the future. who have proved capable of mastering a wide variety of skills, from handling ropes to firefighting to 7. Field tomorrow’s leaders today. One of the monitoring remote sensors. They need to be skilled, unexpected consequences of the pandemic is that of course—mishandling a rope can cause serious CEOs have seen into a window that shows who injury—but their chief skill is the ability their future leaders are. They have seen who can to adapt and learn quickly. They learn continuously, 26 What now? Ten actions to emerge stronger in the next normal September 2020