Janny has always said to me when looking at the New World and the Old World, “You cannot compare what is not comparable.”

This past March 20 (seven days after I left the office for the last time), the author Yuval Noah Harari said the following in an op-ed piece in the Financial Times:

Humankind is now facing a global crisis. Perhaps the biggest crisis of our generation. The decisions people and governments take in the next few weeks will probably shape the world for years to come. They will shape not just our healthcare systems but also our economy, politics and culture. We must act quickly and decisively. We should also take into account the long-term consequences of our actions. When choosing between alternatives, we should ask ourselves not only how to overcome the immediate threat, but also what kind of world we will inhabit once the storm passes. Yes, the storm will pass, humankind will survive, most of us will still be alive — but we will inhabit a different world.

I agree with both Janny and Yuval. It is a mug’s game to compare and I am taking the view that it is just gonna be different. I don’t know how it will be different, but it will be different. Some differences will be big, and some not so big. And we will all figure it out as we go. I guess this is what evolution is all about, not that I am a scientist, or social scientist for that matter. It is great that the vaccine is on its way. But I don’t think the vaccine is a time machine to take us back PreCo, as I call it. I will get it for sure. I am not an anti-vaxxer. But, we have all moved on. I think Yuval would agree

What will our office look like and how will it operate? Will our people even want to come to the office, and if so, every day or certain days of the week? How will they be comfortable in getting there? (Will the new Ontario line even be built now?) We will give up our private offices and go to a hot desk model realizing that on any given day only 40% or 50% are working from the office. I figure I will go in at least on housekeeper day – until the day I have to wait for an elevator for more than four minutes. But is that enough to rationalize me having my own dedicated office? Maybe we will have hub offices throughout the GTAA were people if needed can go for facilities and support and cut the footprint of our downtown office in half, if not more? But who is going to meet anymore face to face? Do we really need a whole floor of boardrooms? And will we be flying around the world to see people? Who will want to see me anyway and will they even be in their own city centre office? If I am not going to be in my office, why would they be in their office? It’s just gonna be different.

Will I ever get a custom made suit ever again? I went to a clothier this weekend. Do you know what he is selling – home office sweat suites, sport coats made of neoprene (kinda cool and I bought one actually). But I miss wearing a suit and tie. This past two weeks while in quarantine, I wore a suit and tie sitting in my basement office every day other than Friday of course, it being casual Friday. I wore a sport coat. It’s just gonna be different.

And where will we live? How will we holiday? Is there going to be a great two-way mass migration of city folk to the country to escape and country folk to the city, as they can now afford it. And will people want to live in towers anymore and wait for elevators? Will the billions of dollars of empty office infrastructure be repurposed into housing? But again, who will want to live there? It is just gonna be different.

And what about our relationships with one another? It is one thing for me to have 30 year business relationships, but how will our young associates develop their relationships, professional and personal for that matter? And their training and the result of their training? I worry about that. I am sure it will work out. Not worth comparing and starting a sentence with, “When I was an articling student …”. It’s just gonna be different.

On line learning, on line health care. I don’t think those are going to go away. Will I really see my GP again. He is working from home too. Do I really need to shop like I did before, use cash like I did before? It’s just gonna be different.

We are social creatures. Most of us need (and to an extent crave) social interaction. But has that evolved? Will it continue to evolve?. We have all developed new habits that now have or are becoming engrained. Will we go back to the old ways and old interactions? Will we flock back to bars and restaurants (will they be as loud?). And want to go to a sporting event with 10,000 or 50,000 other people? A movie? Don’t need to go to a hair stylist anymore. Janny does that for me now. That is all of four minutes. I miss a nice massage mind you. It’s just gonna be different.

The pendulum will swing back in certain ways, no doubt. But it is not going to swing back to where it was. Pendulums don’t do that. That is science. It’s just gonna be different.