Crisis Has Sparked Great Innovations Throughout History

The global pandemic continues to reshape our lives with shutdowns, social distancing restrictions, and supply shortages, but the crisis is also triggering innovations that are helping to ease the challenges caused by Covid-19.

When we’re faced with adversity, there are two choices; play it safe, or innovate and secure growth. 

While COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way we live… Historically, moments of crisis have led to some of the greatest innovations:

Crisis & Innovation Throughout History

Crisis makes us think differently and when our conventional pathways become blocked it puts us in an active search for something new. 

At our core, humans are problem-solvers. We’re fighters. Even under difficult and extreme circumstances, we find a way. 

During the height of WWII the first U.S. jet fighter, the P-80 Shooting Star, was built by a team that had no design, and no concept to work with.

The Germans had already built fighter jets that could fly twice the speed of any Allied aircraft.

The team, lead by Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson successfully built the Jetfighter in less than 6 months…under a circus tent because they had nowhere else to do it. 

This is just one of many crisis-driven examples of innovation that can be found throughout history. 

Economic historians have dubbed The era of The Great Depression, “The most technologically progressive decade of the 20th century.”

The Pandemic’s Impact on the World 

The pandemic has continued to cause disruptions in how we live, learn, and work. 

There’s been panic shopping, school closures, travel bans, and a lot of unanswered questions as we continue to adapt to the changes happening in the world.

At the heart of our fight with Covid-19 is trying to continue living our lives as normally as we can while still following the social distancing restrictions.

Inspired innovation is tipping back the scales in our favor, allowing us to regain our connection with each other.

Innovations Born Out of the Chaos: 

Even now, while we’re still in the thick of the pandemic, unsure of what our post-pandemic future is going to look like… People are identifying the unmet needs created by this global crisis and creating solutions to our social-distancing world. 

Here are a few examples of some simple but brilliant innovations we’ve seen so far:

• A mask with a transparent window that allows deaf people to lip-read. 

Most public transport and businesses are under mask mandates, but masks make lip reading impossible. A huge issue for those who are deaf and rely on lip reading to communicate.

A deaf tailor from Indonesia was facing this problem when she came up with a small, genius solution. A clear plastic window over the mouth made it possible to lip-read once again. This innovation is so simple, but it’s life-changing for the estimated 900 million people with disabling hearing loss.

• The evolution of collaboration tools that are allowing us to stay connected and keep our economy alive.

Because of the innovations in communication technology, like video conferencing, businesses can run their operations safely from anywhere. 

And while video chat is helping people stay connected, they aren’t always necessary or even the fastest way to find a resolution to the everyday needs of running your business. 

This is why voice channels are being adopted into the business world as a simple way to communicate with your team both in-office and remotely.

Voice channels are an instant communication tool that opens up a live audio channel where you can talk and share your screen. The channels can be open as long as you need for close collaboration or quick check-ins throughout the day.

This advanced innovation is as close to working side-by-side in this social-distancing world as you can get… And this platform gives you voice channels, video conferencing, chat, calendar, and project management.

Innovations Give us Hope, Even in a Pandemic

While the future is filled with uncertainty, it’s also filled with hope.

We’re not out of the woods yet, but the harsh circumstances we’re facing in this pandemic are also a catalyst for innovations that are making it easier to navigate through Covid-19. 

We’re still surrounded by the fog of the pandemic which makes it easy to fall into fear, but if we prioritize innovation we can unlock future growth and change how we interact with each other and the world for the better.