Business Unusual Indeed! By Segun Mojeed

Hello there. It’s nice to be back after my last piece which ended with “to be continued…”

Few hours ago, we *(i.e. BezaleelConsulting)* had a successful test-run of our Virtual Interactive Classroom session as an organisation in the flourishing business of Human Resource (HR) consulting in the form of a webinar aptly titled *Leading and Influencing Change*.

Learning and performance (training & development), people resourcing and outsourcing have been integral parts of our HR Entrepreneurship since inception. We had invited into our virtual classroom about 52 clients and friends all over the world, about 45 of them registered for the webinar, out of which thirty-one people logged in and were present in class as participants. Headcount was actually more than that figure because with a single log-in, we got to know later that some families huddled together to enjoy the session. Wow! We love you all. Participants connected from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Nigeria, etc.

First things first, we are indeed so grateful to these friends and clients for agreeing to be our ‘sounding board’ on this test-run journey. This, to us, means much more than the benefits  you, as participants, derived from the loaded 90-minute session according to what you have told us.

In our pre-course communications, we had asked for post-training brutal and sincere feedback on delivery, audio quality, network, bandwidth,  video quality, slides aesthetics and professionalism,  facilitator’s demeanour,  ambience, etc. We want to thank you again for the snippets and feedback. We would be careful and take time not to let your praises  get into our heads. We are persuaded this is just the beginning of business unusual, the new normal, and the real age of quick outdatedness. The times we are in seem a literary translation of this familiar saying, “if you are not at the table, you are either on the menu or you are the menu”. It’s like saying this is the time to keep thinking, keep reading and keep doing. Don’t be left behind! Once again, lockdown is not locked up. My creativity is not on lockdown. My empathy to reach out to others is not on  lockdown. In fact, I’m in love with my wife’s description of the season we are in. She calls it the *Upper Room Experience* (URE). Please search the scriptures and see what happened in the upper room.

Of the feedback or of the brutal feedback, one caught my fancy. However, before I discuss that particular feedback, let me do a little self-appraisal. We came late to the virtual learning platform. We have been in the brick-and-mortar classroom business for 25 years. During this period, we have half-heartedly pursued online training with a couple of clients. Nonetheless we are not deterred. We would not be the first to come late to an emerging business space. Google came late as the eighteenth entrant to the search engine world. Today, Google is tops among the first and the best. For more on this, you may want to read John Doerr’s *”Measure What Matters”*. One consolation though, we have massive contents. Experience is not sold or bought in the market, it’s built over a period of time and we have it. We do not in any way underestimate the race and the tough terrains ahead. We have been in competition all our lives, we don’t know what we would do without it, so says one of my favourite entrepreneurs. Clients are already asking for options. We are already responding. Businesses are getting ready for the post-Covid-19 era. Learning must not suffer. If you don’t train them, don’t blame them. We understand this is the new normal and that the rapidity of change would be unrelenting. With vision, understanding, clarity and agility (VUCA) we are seizing the bull by the horn.

With *vision* as our springboard, detailed in big hairy audacious goals (BHAGs) and wildly important goals (WIG), we have put our hands on the plow and there is no looking back. World class, high standard virtual classroom is no longer just a global best practice, it is also a local best fit in a globalised world economy. Virtual classroom is both a BHAG and WIG for us. We are motivated by a story I read years back and has stayed with me. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy shook NASA to its foundation with a WIG “to land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth before this decade is out.” The rest is history. You may want to read more on this power of vision story from my book: *Growing People* pages 125-136. I love the way the book of Habakkuk describes vision. It’s conceptualised, visible, and adrenaline-pumping. *Understanding* trumps uncertainty. We all understand the situation we are in. It’s either you are growing or you are decaying. *Clarity* comes in form of clear communications, clarity of ideas and thought processes, no jargon, no big grammar and no ambiguity. There are assigned roles, responsibilities and accountability. *Agility* is to keep growing and be relentless. It includes responsiveness and resiliency. We keep going, unperturbed gathering steam. No time to stay or waste in the valley of fear. Remember the change curve? Rapid change is upon us people.

This is definitely not going to be a 100-metre dash. This is a marathon. Stamina is key. Covid-19 will go, and very soon too by God’s infinite mercy. However, things ain’t going to be the same again. We can’t go back to the old same same. No. Never. As for us, we may have been late getting to the virtual classroom but henceforth we are gliding in leaps and bounds. Please join us in our virtual classrooms either for free webinars or sessions with subscriptions. Our rates are modest and the benefits gained priceless. We are in very exciting and interesting times.

Now back to one of the feedback. Allow me to paraphrase, “…may be you could have waited to perfect the back-end, and the facilitator to have mastered machine learning so that he would not need to call on back stage staff for _live_ assistance…” We appreciate the sincerity of this feedback. Yes, there were a couple of glitches that could not be hidden or edited. That’s what happens in live broadcast. But to wait is to waste time and to delay going live would have been dangerous. Machine learning, online training, virtual classroom projects are team events. Even with your contents ready, to go live, of necessity, there is a producer, the facilitator, and may be a host. The goal is for all to work together seamlessly for a unique participant experience, PX – the engaging virtual classroom experience! I’m so grateful to the backroom team of Bola Oguntade, Segun Taiwo and my darling wife, Molara, for this week’s webinar. It takes teamwork to make the dream work. Thank you guys.

You are out there reading me and you are waiting for that perfect moment to start off on that project – an enterprise, putting your creativity to work, selling your products, marrying your heartthrob, etc. There is no such thing. You’ve got to practice to become perfect. Wait no further. Just start. Perfection is a moving target. Like Nike puts it, just do it! Fine tuning would follow. Thank you for your time. God bless.

To be continued…