The Bunker Strategy: surviving in lock-down

When I wrote the book the Catapult Effect in 2019, I was convinced that business is war. In January this year, I was reflecting on my goals and planning for an awesome 2020, with great plans for my business and my life in general. By the time I was celebrating my birthday on the 1st of March the threat of COVID-19 was becoming much more apparent. COVID-19 was threatening our health, survival and way of life.

When nations started going into lock-down, it was painful to hear of deaths and hard to see vibrant city streets emptied of all life. It was encouraging to see the strength and commitment of those called to the front-line to defend and safeguard our survival like doctors, nurses, till operators in supermarkets and the random delivery guy.

It was interesting to read stories about how people all over the world are trying to live during lock-down.It was funny seeing peoples’ experiences of work-from-home (WFH) routines in an attempt to maintain some semblance of sanity. But the reality was that COVID-19 had forced the majority of the world to retreat to the bunker. While in my own lock-down situation I have reflected on 5 reasons why we needed to retreat and 4 reasons why there is hope after COVID-19.

THE BUNKER STRATEGY

• We face difficult situations and we need to hold out and survive
• We need to hold a defensive position whilst the enemy attacks
• We need to recuperate and recover after a brutal showdown
• We need revisit our plans and manage resources
• We face a level of uncertainty that we can’t handle or confront that easily and we don’t know what will happen if we do.

WE NEED TO SURVIVE

When COVID-19 broke out it didn’t seem like it was going to affect the world as it has done now. This meant most of us were caught unaware and without sufficient resources and planning to survive and weather the pandemic. By the time it was declared a pandemic and nations were announcing lock-downs supermarkets and any supply store was full of people buying reserves for survival.

The reason was very simple, when we face difficult situations and we need to hold out and survive. COVID-19 is a…