Colorado Strong!

It is an unnerving time, these days.  I mean that literally.  We are losing our nerve, our confidence in our actions.  And, for good reason.  There is a lot of uncertainty, and where we do know things, it is not reassuring.  As I am writing these words, I absolutely am not trying to discount the severity of the pandemic that confronts us, or devalue the advice of medical experts across the country.  

Please rest assured that I support the enforced “social distancing” measures currently being undertaken.  I would rather that we all err on the side of overreacting, in order to do all we can to protect the most vulnerable in our population.

But, I also realize that there is real danger in hunkering down completely.  This crisis is not going to go away anytime soon.  (I admit I am not a medical person, but it sure seems like this is here for a while.)  So, the question I have been asking myself, is how do I continue to add value, and support both myself, and our economy, while protecting our community’s collective health.

I am fundamentally, a risk-based decision maker.  I have built a career on evaluating the risks to a project, a business, etc.  And, I have always understood that it is often impossible, and generally unnecessary, to completely eliminate risk.  Rather, it is critical to understand (and even quantify the risks), weigh these against the value of action, and do all I can to mitigate the risks, to achieve my goals.

With this in mind, I plan to continue to do business — to bring value.  But, to carefully, and thoughtfully, consider the risks that this pandemic presents.  And, not just to myself, but to my loved ones, the people around me, our community, state, and country.  All of us, will have different risk inputs and calculations.  For example, if you are living with an older parent, or any one else in a higher risk population, then your risk tolerance OF COURSE will be lower, than a 20-year hold, healthy adult,   So, I am NOT trying to tell anyone else what to do.  Just stating my own risk mitigated plans.

Here are some of my current plans, for my business/career:

• Work from home.  (Easy for me to say, as I do that mostly anyway.)
• Continue to buy food from restaurants, and take it home to share with my family.
• Continue to have “face-to-face” meetings, although most of these will be video chat sessions.
• Have the occasional actual personal meeting, but as the warmer weather arrives, consider having picnics, or bring coffee to share with a peer on a park bench.
• Continue to purchase services and goods from my vendors, and keep my businesses moving ahead, and thriving!

I want to be able to look back in a year, and say I did all I could to protect our Colorado community AND to continue to bring value to the businesses I work for, and to the state and US.