"You can also build something beautiful out of stones that are placed in your path." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Golden" - this is how two decades of the last century are described: the 20s and 50s. Both have in common that they were initiated by world wars. The corona pandemic is not a world war, but it can be compared to one in many respects. Lockdowns, lonely shopping streets, the bankruptcy of countless companies, unemployment and financial hardship, state intervention in the economy and private life, willingness of people to gradually give up their freedom, national debt and banknote production in record highs, decreased production and the death of several million people.

This gloomy picture is not a cause for pessimism, on the contrary: with regard to the coming years, the current situation can be seen as a source of hope and optimism. During the First World War, competition for higher quality tanks accelerated the development of car engines. In addition, after the war, many social structures such as the replacement of monarchies by democratic governments and the current education system were consolidated (1918 Fischer Act in GB, Reich Primary School Act of 1920 in the Weimar Republic, the doubling of the number of students in the USA between 1910 and 1920 ). Women's suffrage was also established during this time. The Second World War accelerated developments in aviation and institutions like the UN or the EU arose. The combination of industrialization, workers' movements and world wars gave rise to the world we live in today. The interaction of digitization, the pandemic and environmental movements will shape the world of the 21st century.

With the development of several vaccines against the coronavirus and the vaccination campaigns that have started, we can now hope that this time will begin soon. The challenge ahead is now to build the future from this foundation and to switch from reacting to acting. The essential responses to a crisis that ensure people's survival form the foundation for the post-crisis world. But a reaction is not a build-up. To secure the largest possible share in the development, not only start-ups and newcomers but also established companies and market leaders have to act as challengers and pioneers. Active and innovative, reduce risk aversion and explore new ways.

The acceleration of digital change, social, economic and medical preventive measures for possible crises as well as the increased awareness that our systems are susceptible to external influences will dominate the 20s of the 21st century. Even if the corona pandemic is not a result of environmental pollution and global warming, the pandemic has made people realize that we are not inviolable and that external circumstances can turn our lives upside down. This is like a person who gets a heightened health awareness after a serious illness. In this way, sensitivity to issues such as the greenhouse effect and the willingness to make sacrifices will increase. The crisis has shaken many people. We are not inviolable! A little virus changed the world. Bad environmental scenarios and crises are quite possible. Many managing directors are much more interested in sustainability than before.

A crisis always brings opportunities. The onset of a new era presupposes many new hypotheses. High national debt and banknote production, combined with falling production, can lead to hyperinflation on a global scale in the coming years, which can redefine the role of cryptocurrencies and revolutionize the world economy. Company structures were formed at the time of industrialization and replaced outdated master craftsmen. Now it is the structures of industrialization that are out of date and they are being replaced. In the new era, the hierarchies have to be kept much flatter and decisions have to be left to those who work on the topic. Managers should only decide on overarching issues. Supervisors shouldn't act as bosses but as a kind of coaches and mediators. The little things often make the difference.

To come up with new hypotheses, you have to do a lot of tests, collect a lot of data, try and learn a lot. In the philosophy of science, a theory finds acceptance through empirical evidence. All results that do not agree with the theory are then adjusted or discarded until the theory is no longer tenable and a paradigm shift occurs. A large number of new results then form the next paradigm. The economy and society are now facing a similar situation. Those who dare, try, fall and stand up again will shape the next paradigm.

It's not just about digital channels and automation. The old models should not be improved, but completely new models should be installed. However, that does not mean that a new identity is required, on the contrary! The corporate policy of future-oriented market leaders such as Apple and Google makes it clear: Financial motivation is only one leg of the tripod to optimally promote employees. Belonging to a strong corporate identity and one's own appreciation of serving the company's mission will be the fuel of a performance-oriented society. Above all, the falling transaction costs are forcing companies to base their livelihoods on more than just pragmatism. If this has not already been done, each institution should therefore filter out, affirm and market its own identity and mission. Subtle ways should be sought to elegantly convey the feeling of belonging to employees. Of course, it is also very important to attach great importance to the health and well-being of employees.

Two years ago, skills in crisis management, corporate agility, cost management, employee resilience, innovation and cash flow management were of less importance to managers than they are today. Another important effect of the pandemic is the increased trust of companies in their own skills and digital channels. To cope with the crisis, new software was mostly not bought, but the old one was better used.

An important factor that does not seem to have penetrated enough into the consciousness of executives is the increased importance of the customer experience. From marketing to using the products, the customer experience needs to be perfected. The use of artificial intelligence and digitization should be used as a tool to optimize the above points.

To be crisis-resistant, the supply chains have to be diversified. The failure of one provider must be quickly replaceable by another. The creation of an ecosystem around one's service or product is also of great importance. Partnerships form a platform from which all parties benefit. This also increases the resistance to crises. One example is Amazon, which, thanks to its resilience, has saved a large number of companies that it offers a platform from bankruptcy.

The next important point is online direct sales to the customer. In 2020, the share of e-commerce increased as much as was expected in the next 10 years. To optimize the online service, new business and pricing models have to be created and employees have to learn new skills. The talents of the staff and their training are becoming more and more important. Before industrialization, talent was the most important thing when it came to production. With the breakdown of production into its individual steps and the division of tasks, which over time were more and more taken over by machines, talent lost more and more of its importance. Now, however, we have come so far that these machines can be operated again by machines, whereby the production process has been completely automated and there is no longer any space for staff without skills. Talents who are responsible for the development, implementation and operation of these complex systems gain in importance again. In the next two years, managing directors want to optimize their companies and adapt them to digitization rather than expand.

The extent of the internal and external networking of the members of society makes cybersecurity a very sensitive and important issue. For a digital society to be possible at all, the security standard of the network must be raised significantly. A little review can give an idea of ​​the future. During National Socialism, a kind of identity card, the “ID card”, was introduced for Jews and men of fighting age. After the fall of the regime at the end of World War II, however, this law was not repealed, but extended to the entire population and still exists in a similar form today. Documents proving identity have been around for thousands of years. But with industrialization, the introduction of parliaments and the mandatory introduction of an impartial police force, basic and civil rights and the advancing technology, ID cards for proof of identity have become more and more informative, so that today everything from fingerprints to digital face recognition is included. Applied to our current situation, the IP addresses and location detection will form a comprehensive proof of identity. The trend since the introduction of the Internet confirms this assumption. As we know it, anonymity on the internet will most likely no longer exist. The development of a digital police apparatus also looks inevitable.

Many companies, especially small businesses, have gone bankrupt. But that also means that an army of people with a lot of initiative is looking for new opportunities. In 2020, almost twice as many new businesses were registered in the USA in the third quarter as in the same period in 2019. Especially for private equity with over-the-counter equity worldwide over 1.5 trillion, there are particularly good opportunities. A lot of investments will certainly come from them.

Vacation and pleasure travels are sure to rise again, but business travel will probably not reach its pre-pandemic level soon. When the first companies move back to physical meetings, however, that will force the competition to follow . The possibility of working from home will relieve the cities and real estate prices for offices and apartments in the metropolitan areas will fall.

The health system will also need to develop in terms of crisis prevention. The focus on diagnosis and treatment must be adjusted towards prevention and health promotion. In addition, the recording of patients and the organization must be uniformly and effectively regulated in digital form in order to be able to act quickly in crises in the future.

The development and use of an mRNA vaccine could break a barrier that leads to a completely new understanding of medicine. Coupled with the possibilities that come from digitization, the rapid analysis of large amounts of data and artificial intelligence, genetic engineering will revolutionize medicine. Some kind of preventive medicine could prevent cancer from developing. Tissue and organ transplants could be done with man-made organic material. Genetic diseases or diseases transmitted by insects could be cured and autoimmune diseases could be reversed. If RNA therapies are successful, the next step can be a therapy that directly addresses the DNA. Of course, it is not possible to predict which side effects espacially long-term side effects will occur. Interfering with the human genome has always been viewed with skepticism. The grave circumstances of the pandemic have lowered this skepticism and increased willingness among many people, forcing them to throw their worries overboard and trust the pharmaceutical companies. In addition to the acceleration of development, this is probably the most important consequence of the corona crisis with regard to new types of pharmaceuticals. As it was with the development of surgery, this development will certainly also be used for cosmetic purposes over time.

However, genetic engineering also has applications outside of medicine, such as agriculture and energy. It has been an important part of agriculture for many years. With more advanced methods, plants could be more weather- and disease-resistant or the fixation of nitrogen in the earth, which counteracts the greenhouse effect and allows plants to grow more effectively. The effects on the energy industry can also be enormous. Genetically modified bacteria used to produce fuels could have a lasting impact on the energy industry.

The ability to modify genes of microorganisms harbors an almost unlimited number of innovations and possibilities that will ensure rapid developments over the next few decades. This revolution is being driven by the rapid increase in computing power and new opportunities in AI, automation and data analysis that will accelerate the pace of innovation and the potential for higher research productivity in the life sciences.

Regardless of the perspective from which the circumstances are looked at and which aspects are taken into account: The crisis has tremendously accelerated change! Jump into the flow instead of letting the flow of innovation pass you.