Look to Tomorrow, but Don’t Forget Today
As leaders we like to look forward. There’s always a next challenge, a next innovation, a next project.
3M has a Thirty-Percent Rule—30% of each division’s revenues must come from products that are less than four years old. The company spends about 6% of its revenue on research and development, far more than most companies, and frequently appears on most-admired lists.
It’s good to look ahead. Last week’s Tuesday Tutor focused on using the recent lull in virus threats to look ahead.
Two stories last weekend reminded me that innovation and forward thinking can’t be accomplished while neglecting present operations.
Throughout the pandemic, “follow the science,” was a useful philosophy. Attend Safe did it. We surely saved lives as a result.
In the March 17, 2023, Drug Discovery News, Stephanie DeMarco described a “COVID-19 close call” at a scientific conference where few people wore masks. After her return, she received a public health department alert for possible COVID-19 exposure. A gathering of scientists risked becoming a spreader event despite knowing easy methods options to prevent it.
We can’t look so far ahead that we forget today’s challenges. In her article, DeMarco, who has a doctorate from the University of California Los Angeles, describes her experience, and explains risk mitigation that could help. The very risk mitigations Attend Safe provides.
The other story was U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s announcement of a positive COVID-19 test. Durbin is 78 years old (not unusual, 68% of U.S. senators are 60 or older) and age remains a significant factor in surviving an infection—so you’d expect they’d remain on guard.
Don’t lose sight of today while you’re looking down the road to the future.
COVID-19 BY THE NUMBERS: In the U.S., 1,706 people died from a coronavirus infection during the week that ended March 20, per the CDC, with 149,955 new confirmed infections. The percentage of Americans who received an updated booster ticked up slightly to 16.4% of eligible people.
Amanda Schleede is founder and CEO of Attend Safe, which helps people to attend to life with sensible safety protocols. Visit Attend Safe online at AttendSafe.com.