Today was supposed to be a very big deal. At last our daughter was to be married and everyone agreed that it was about time. It was never going to be a simple matter, working in the middle-east and all, and the venue for 130 guests was to be in Majorca. But then came Covid-19 and a twelve month postponement commenced. The bride’s mother took it very stoically, the dressmaker slowed to a crawl and the happy couple worked on their tans midst the lock-down. How will the world have changed in a year?

Making predictions of this sort has never been a strength of mine and with a 20% fall in GDP last month it seems easier to simply hope for survival. Obviously we all need to do more than hope. We need to reassess our situation and move forward with innovation and creativity in our hearts as we strive to accentuate the positive and learn from the experience. This may sound trite but would it sound any better if I simply said “we’re all doomed”?

I think that the bride and groom will still be there next year but they may not still work in the middle-east. I think that the bride’s mother will still be stoical but possibly a little less stressed about day to day isolation and I think that the mixandpackstuff operation will be surviving and still learning to be a little better every day. I’d like to think that we will all be a little less inconsiderate of one another and a little more considerate of our environment. But I’m not sure that I can see the basis of this in fact yet and then there is Brexit!

On the political front, the key indicator is whether Boris is seen for what he is and which way the mood swings in response. In November, a similar decision will be made in the US but will there be wisdom and humility to follow? For the mixandpackstuff business I can see that our investments in operations management tools are capable of bearing fruit provided that we develop the nous to use the information effectively and promptly. So I am proceeding cautiously but confidently. The father of the bride will have a good story to tell!