2021 is on the horizon – do you have a phrase to describe it?

The past year will be one that we will remember for generations to come. A year of challenges, learning, opportunities, lockdowns, and change. 

It’s been a year that has taught us a lot in a relatively short space of time, changes have been fast tracked and we have seen wide scale adoption of digital tools as businesses have had to pivot to retain connections with both employees and their customers.

CN&CO operates as a lifestyle business, a model that we have seen much success from through the years. In 2016, CN&CO’s lifestyle business model was featured in an article in Fast Company titled Work = Life = Work. In the article Carel shared insight into the thinking behind the people and brand consultancy. The same piece also featured CN&CO’s friend Christo Crafford, founder of Martha’s Mojo.

“Setting up and maintaining a healthy lifestyle business requires a major mindset change for traditional managers, and a massive culture change for big corporates. But in time, businesses that can’t make the change won’t attract the best talent.”

Looking back on the year, this model has allowed us to continue providing value to our partners and working with them to help them navigate changes in setting up remote work forces.

To round off the year and as we look onto the horizon, we asked our team and associates to “share an idea, phrase or word that you feel will describe 2021 and why.” Here’s what they had to say…

Carel: Possibility

I hope that 2021 will be marked by POSSIBILITY. So often in life we put constraints on ourselves and others. Or follow restrictions that are no longer relevant. I have long held a view that putting people, ideas, teams, organisations and “things: together that – allegedly – don’t belong together, yields superb results. And it is fun! Why can’t you use Burningman principles to establish HR for a business insurer (like we did for Etana Insurance)? Why is someone too young for a role (who decides that anyway?) Why can’t a woman be head of a construction firm? Or a man be the primary caregiver to a family’s children? Or CN&O be made up of people who want to change the world for the better, not just make money? Anything is possible. It is not always easy. It may take time. But it IS possible. So my wish and hope and what I will work for in 2021 is to Carpe Diem. To help others and myself make the most of our talents and to seize all our opportunities. 

Gianluca: Embrace change and your energy

2020 in many people’s eyes, has understandably brought difficulties and challenges. Personally, no matter the obstacles, it has brought me perspective and the ability to embrace change. A chance to channel our energies in new ways and in new frontiers. 2021 will be about harnessing this energy and gearing it to work in new ways, with diverse people at the core and not restricting ourselves to the same thinking. Let’s make new waves and ride them with a view to take on new opportunities, to learn, and enjoy! 

Penny: Crisis = dangerous opportunity

The word “crisis”, when translated from Japanese to English come out as “dangerous opportunity”.  So while we are in fact in a crisis, 2021 represents an opportunity, and we need to see it that way if we are to succeed in turning a dire situation around. It’s about being positive in the face of adversity, it’s about rising to the challenge in front of us, it’s about not staying down, but getting up time and time again.  

Blake: Take nothing for granted

Lockdown highlighted how much I have taken for granted and that I will forever be grateful for the freedom to exercise when I want, to have paying clients, to spend face to face time with friends and family and most of all, I will never take human touch for granted again. 

Kurt: May 2021 be what 2020 was supposed to be

2020 – A new way of life was what everyone was preaching,
home school and parents tried their teaching
Lessons were learnt, tears were shed
A few of us even worked from our own bed

Wealth was in abundance for many,
while others lost every cent and penny
A global crisis meant masks, lockdown and restrictions,
with dismal economic forecasts and bewildering predictions. 

2021, a fresh new start
May it be as good as a bull’s-eyed dart
With an explosion of positivity, and perhaps some normality
But most of all, good health, new opportunities and congeniality

Llewellyn: Reconnect

The Events team looks forward to reconnecting with our clients in 2021 by organising various live and virtual industry events. Hybrid events will enable us to change the event scene for our clients and help them build better relationships going forward. 2020 helped us grow in many ways and we look forward to growing even more with our clients.

Colin: Breathe

Be grateful for your ability to breathe freely. Take advantage of this gift by inhaling deeply every time you feel a little bit stressed or nervous. (Don’t forget to exhale afterwards!) It’s amazing how little attention we pay to our breath. Let’s be more conscious of it and use it to our advantage.

Rob: Nothing is guaranteed

At one stage in 2020 it was estimated that half the world’s population was in a form of lockdown. That is a staggering amount of people subjected to a combination of not leaving their house, not going to work and in some cases not even going outside on a regular basis. We tend to take many things for granted and this year was a sharp reminder that despite our best laid plans, we control very little that happens to us. With the dawn of 2021 creeping ever closer (and providing some  symbolic-yet-misguided relief that the turmoils of 2020 will be over) it is important to remember that nothing is guaranteed in life except death and taxes. So while we can’t avoid two inevitabilities we can embrace the uncertainty that comes with a new perspective of our place in the world, and how we hope to stamp our mark on it. Part of the human existence is the undeniable struggle most of us deal with to find a way to shape the world around us, yet perhaps it is better to relinquish some control and consider that instead the world shapes us, whether we want it to or not. Armed with that unsettling (at-times) but liberating mindset, let’s take on 2021 and see what happens.

Joshua: Protect, recognise, and appreciate our interconnected ecosystems

2020 taught us many things and exposed us to a rate of change that we may have spoken about, but never experienced in our lifetime. While the global pandemic will be with us for many months to come as we navigate the new year, the urgency of recognising that the world is an ecosystem of interconnectedness has never been more urgent. By recognising this, my hope is that we can drive change to develop new business models, thinking, and improve existing systems so that we can rejuvenate the strength of the ecosystems which surrounds us. Always remember the importance of people and relationships in a growing digital age.

Josie: Be grateful 

When times are hard, or confusing, or stressful, i seem to become more grateful for all that is right in my life. Being grateful has helped me remain calm and happy this year. 

Francois: Be brave to reimagine ways to reconnect…

Stealing from the AIE 2021 slogan I conceptualised for the 2021 conference, this phrase has been true for 2020 as a whole. From the entire CN&CO pulling together and establishing InsureTalk as THE online webinar for the insurance industry to stay connected, support and learn from each other, to helping countless other companies find ways to reimagine their means of connecting with their clients has been phenomenal.