When a major event has happened in the past, we have often taken a small, collective pause and then resumed our normal activities.

We are in a major event like no other. If you wait for things to return to normal, you will likely go out of business.

This is the new normal. We are going to adopt practices and do things differently than we have before and these changes will be permanent.

Here are a couple of the key changes:

1. Previously, employers have been interested in their employees' health on a strategic level. This has changed to a tactical level with Covid-19. Employers will want to know each day if you have signs of being sick. They are implementing ways to determine this. These will be invasive to some. This is new territory and will no doubt serve up some legal challenges before we settle into the new normal.
2. We will no longer jump on an airplane without a thought. We've finally gotten used to video conferencing, found out it doesn't hurt. Video conferencing will become the normal, flying will become exotic. Flying may even become somewhat taboo, with prospects and clients mentally categorizing you as a spend thrift if you unthinkingly hop on a plane to go see them. This could actually become tied into a silent judgement as to how "green" you are.

Bottom line don't keep thinking you should be in idle mode and waiting, that things will soon return to normal. You are in normal, right now.

Jim Thompson is CEO of Paperitalo Publications.