Pandemic provides valuable lessons for business, life

Perhaps you’ve heard about the Richmond Golf Club in Surrey, UK, that had special rules in effect while the German Luftwaffe was doing its best to break the will of the English people

More than 1,000 bombs were dropped on the community between Oct. 7, 1940 and June 6, 1941, but British golfers saw no reason to forgo an occasional day on the links.

The following were only a few of the concessions the club’s rules committee made to Hitler’s best efforts to subdue their island nation:

“Players are asked to collect Bomb and Shrapnel splinters to save these causing damage to the Mowing Machines.

“In Competitions during gunfire or while bombs are falling, players may take cover without penalty for ceasing play

“The positions of known delayed-action bombs are market by red flags at reasonable but not guaranteed safe distance therefrom

“A ball moved by enemy action may be replaced, or if lost or destroyed, a ball may be dropped not nearer the hole without a penalty

“A player whose stroke is affected by the simultaneous explosion of a bomb may replay another ball from the same place. Penalty one stroke.”

Like the golfers who couldn’t wait to crawl out of a London bomb shelter to get back to the course, we’re all cautiously getting back to as near “normal” as possible, hopeful our vaccinations can prevent another COVID-19 outbreak.

Like the masks hanging from our turn signal levers or tucked in the windbreaker we’ve just retrieved from the closet, we have reminders of lessons learned while adapting to the challenges the pandemic presented.

-- Remote work can work; employees can be responsible enough to take it seriously and companies can consider it as an option.

-- The same goes for education, provided teachers, parents and students are committed and onboard.

-- Besides work, our personal lives need to be taken seriously to provide the proper work-life balance and maintain physical and mental health.

-- We are more creative and resourceful than we realized. We’ve adopted new attitudes and adopted new technologies to keep things running at home and work.

-- Effective communication and teamwork that were vital during the pandemic will continue to be valuable as “normalcy” returns. Going the extra mile for friends, family and coworkers will reap benefits for years to come.

-- Don’t be afraid to adapt to new ways. Yes, we all learned to despise Zoom meetings, but they’ll continue to provide a means to improve communication and cooperation.

Like golfers in World War II, we all need to acknowledge the challenges we face while keeping our eye on the ball.