Chris Skinner's blog Shaping the future of finance
Yes, we’re all doing stuff from our home offices. I don’t know what your office is like, but mine’s quite nice. I like it. Until I noticed a strange smell yesterday. Didn’t know what it was, so I had to look around the room a lot, then suddenly realised …
… there was an elephant in the room.
How the hell did I miss that?
I mean it’s huge!
How could you spend days, weeks, months, working in the home office and miss it?
How long has it been there? And what does it represent?
I didn’t know, so I asked it. Here’s how the conversation went.
Me: Who are you?
Elephant: I am the economy.
Me: What are you doing here?
Elephant: I thought you should be aware of me.
Me: Of course, I’m aware of you, but you’re a bit sick at the moment like all of us, aren’t you?
Elephant: Yes.
Me: So, why aren’t you wearing a mask?
Elephant: Donald Trump said that I didn’t need one.
Me: But he’s also been sick?
Elephant: Yes.
Me: Do you know what’s going on?
Elephant: No, but what I do know is that your people have messed me up.
Me: My people?
Elephant: Yes, your people. Your governments, your leaders, your decision makers. All of them are messing me up, and I’m not happy.
Me: But they had to mess you up to deal with this disease.
Elephant: Coronavirus?
Me: Yes, of course. You know.
Elephant: I know what?
Me: You know. The disease has meant that we have all had to stay at home, lockdown, not go out, not do anything this year.
Elephant: Is that what happened?
Me: Absolutely. I thought you would know.
Elephant: No one told me.
Me: But it’s obvious. If people die from a disease, we have to stop the disease.
Elephant: But what about my disease?
Me: Have you got coronavirus?
Elephant: I’ve no idea what I’ve got, but I feel sick.
Me: What are the symptoms?
Elephant: Well, no one is doing anything, going anywhere, buying stuff, travelling, or doing stuff that is my usual day-to-day. I’m starving.
Me: What can I do?
Elephant: Tell people I’m dying.
Me: But I think the people who count know that.
Elephant: They claim they do, but they don’t.
Me: OK, you told me the symptoms, what are the cures?
Elephant: Spend, spend, spend.
Me: Urmm. Governments are.
Elephant: It’s not enough. I need more.
Me: But there is no more. It is what it is.
Elephant: No, it’s not.
Me: It is.
Elephant: No, it’s not.
Me: It is.
Elephant: No, it’s not.
Me: It is.
(this went on for a while)
Elephant: The world is not what you think it is.
Me: Que?
Elephant: The world does not work the way you think it does.
Me: Pourquoi?
Elephant: The world was built on an idea.
Me: Go on.
Elephant: The idea was that money makes the world go around.
Me: It does.
Elephant: It doesn’t.
Me: It does.
Elephant: It doesn’t.
Me: It does.
Elephant: It doesn’t.
Me: It does.
Elephant: It doesn’t.
Me: It does.
(this went on for a while)
Elephant: Money does not make the world go around, people do.
Me: Obvs.
Elephant: But you lost the plot.
Me: Really?
Elephant: Yes, and that’s obvs too.
Me: What is?
Elephant: That you let things go. You lost the plot. The planet was being messed up, you flew around the world without a care, you had no consideration for me or for the planet.
Me: I did.
Elephant: My family were all massacred by poachers. Did you care about that?
Me: I did. I give money to the World Wildlife Fund every month.
Elephant: Bully for you.
Me: So, what does all of this mean?
Elephant: It means change.
Me: Sure, we always change.
Elephant: No, it means change forever.
Me: In what way?
Elephant: Don’t go out, don’t travel, don’t mess up the planet, don’t do the things you used to do.
Me: A new normal?
Elephant: Yes, but that’s what politicians call it. I call it: a new economy.
Me: A new economy?
Elephant: Yes.
Me: What does it look like?
Elephant: It’s completely different.
Me: In what way?
Elephant: No one goes here, there and everywhere. They stay local.
Me: They stay local?
Elephant: Yes. Everyone shops locally, back on the main street. The shopping mall is dead.
Me: Wow!
Elephant: And everyone shops digitally.
Me: Of course.
Elephant: Yes, but you may not have realised what that means.
Me: Tell me.
Elephant: It means that all of the big stuff – groceries, entertainment and such like – is all done digitally. All of the small stuff – fresh vegetables, eating out and such like – is all done locally. Main street is back.
Me: But that sounds like a major change.
Elephant: It is a major change.
Me: But we are going back to the way it was, aren’t we?
Elephant: No. I’m afraid you’re not.
Me: So, I should invest in digital companies?
Elephant: No, you should invest in companies that understand digital and physical in the new world of limited movement, limited travel and limited societies.
Me: And who are they?
Elephant: You know. But don’t just think of the Big Tech guys. Think about firms that do logistics and delivery. This crisis is a major bonus for firms like UPS, DHL, Ocado and such like.
Me: Useful. Can you go now?
Elephant: No. I am your elephant in this room.
Me: You mean there are others?
Elephant: Yes. My family were massacred by poachers but their ghosts are everywhere, in every room, in every conversation.
Me: Darn. This is getting deep.
Elephant: It is deep my friend, but this is life.
Me: Will it change.
Elephant: It always does.
Me: Change is the only constant.
Elephant: Change is the only constant.
Everything changes and nothing stands still
Heraclitus of Ephesus, 535 BC – 475 BC
POSTNOTE:
I shared this partly because Saturday 10th October 2020 is World Mental Health Day. Stay well.
