The Danger of Doing Nothing

April 12 2020
By: Terry L. Mathis

When normalcy is disrupted, how do you react? Some tend to retreat in fear or knee-jerk react to the danger. Others try to hide and wait it out. But the most successful are the ones who study the new reality and innovate to meet its challenges. Disruptions are nothing new. We have had storms, diseases, recessions, depressions, shortages, wars, and climatological challenges every few years for as long as we have been keeping records. If we do not learn how to act when things are disrupted, we will not know how to act quite often.

Instead of focusing on the problem we need to focus on solutions and the opportunities those solutions can create. Scientists are striving to innovate new treatments and vaccines. Healthcare workers are striving to innovate ways to handle increased patient loads and still isolate the sick. Politicians are striving to find ways to save the economy while still slowing the spread of the disease. Others are simply hoarding toilet paper and waiting it out. While there is danger in doing the wrong thing, there is likely a greater danger in doing nothing.