Whether it has been deliberate or unintentional, organizations that have weathered the storm of COVID-19 by innovating around the new and emerging needs and pain points of their customers have employed Human-Centered Thinking to do so.

As the world’s business leaders carry on into the latter half of one calendar year spent facing the never-before-faced, it may be a difficult ask for the most resilient of them to maintain and foster a sense of optimism. Surrounded by workforce communities that have been tested in every way imaginable, and whose capacity to imagine clearer skies ahead may be considerably compromised, encouraging a mindset of Relentless Optimism may seem an impossibility.

As offices around the world roll out return-to-work initiatives, with many revising their plans in tandem with second waves and restrictions, it’s important to reflect upon what has worked so far to inform our best practices into the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed a host of difficult realities to the surface. Not the least of these is the universal understanding that none of us know what is to come of this crisis, or how exactly we should prepare for the future.