MIT Sloan Management Review Article on The Pandemic's Lessons for Managing Uncertainty

As we move through the emerging reality of the coronavirus, what have we learned that will help organizations navigate the coming months?

I’ve been following the experiences of four companies — Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Vodafone, Arup, and Artemis Connection — over the past several months. Each is facing big unknowns. None of the leaders of these companies believes they have all the answers yet; all describe their organizations as being in motion.

While each company’s experience is unique, common themes are emerging that are proving crucial to their journeys: the importance of project management; the need to embrace trial and error; the floating of big, long-term questions; and an excitement to build on the upsides of this moment. Here, I illustrate the four themes through the lens of these companies.

About the Author

Lynda Gratton (@lyndagratton) is a professor of management practice at London Business School and founder of the advisory practice HSM. Her latest book (with Andrew J Scott) is The New Long Life: A Framework for Flourishing in a Changing World (Bloomsbury, 2020).

Learn more about MIT SMR.