[Approximate Reading Time : 4 mins]
The term “liminality” was coined in the early 20th century by French anthropologist Arnold van Gennep. According to Gennep, liminality was the period between two phases of life, such as adolescence where we transition from childhood to adulthood. The long-drawn-out COVID pandemic has placed us in a similar situation: our life as we knew it has ceased to exist; now we are living with the uncertainty of what might be next.
In relation to businesses, the pandemic has brought with it a whole set of unprecedented challenges. Business certainty dwindled to abysmal levels during the peak of the pandemic and is only now starting to show signs of revival. But this liminality period in business can be turned into an opportunity to build up teams and enhance capabilities. Quite a few enterprises turned to creative solutions to cope with this liminality and stayed productive to bring about certainty. Let’s see how they managed to do this.
Setting panic aside to make use of available resources: When faced with unprecedented circumstances, it is essential to stay calm and see what resources are at hand. Utilize these resources to augment existing products or services. Take the example of HiNounou, a health startup based in Shanghai. With the onset of the pandemic, the company first added hand sanitizers and face masks to their health-monitoring kits meant for the elderly. Afterward, they simply expanded the marketing of these kits to include a wider client base. Another way of capitalizing on available resources is to repurpose an existing offering in one sector to suit another segment. SenseGiz, a startup in India’s Belgaum city, used its expertise in home and office safety similarly to formulate an app for COVID-19 patient tracing and social distancing purposes.
Channeled the enhanced spirit of community to connect actively: Many tech giants and established enterprises offered advice and free access to resources to startups to help them stay on their feet. Those who realized the value of these offerings and their temporary nature quickly capitalized on them by utilizing the opportunities immediately. The support offered by corporate accelerator Cisco Launchpad on technology enablement is an example. Business continuity initiatives by agencies such as the Australian Information Industry Association are another example.
In such a scenario, having a reliable business partner to support your strategy can prove useful. Our experienced team at Amnet can help you achieve the desired outcomes with our arsenal of customized strategies and tools. To help you track our performance regularly, we have crafted a certainty index that measures certainty. Call us to know more about how we can be your certainty partner!
Sources: 1. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-to-not-waste-a-crisis-mindfully-manage-in-betweenness/. 2. https://www.appliedanthro.org/publications/news/may-2020/resisting-business-usual-time-liminality. 3. https://ibecventures.com/blog/from-normal-to-liminality-to-new-normal-seven-tips-for-business-as-mission-in-the-2020-era-of-covid-19/.
