Never waste a good crisis
ISSN: 0143-5124
Article publication date: 21 December 2020
Issue publication date: 20 May 2021
Abstract
Purpose
COVID-19 is no different. It presents us with opportunities to accelerate some changes we may already have in play, to either challenge some long-held assumptions or to think more creatively about new ways of working.
Design/methodology/approach
Crises almost always bring to light not only threats but also opportunities, including a chance to reflect and learn. The author of this study is never the one to waste the opportunity that externally driven change creates to learn from what she has been witnessing and to accelerate change that she was already planning, to stop some things and start others which more effectively align with the vision of the organisation.
Findings
This paper charts a course through some of the author’s thinking and actions in the digital information world over the last 30 years. Partly it is a story of “the more things change the more they stay the same” and partly a story of “overnight change which has been decades in the making”. It ends with the author’s thoughts on two opportunities that she believes we cannot afford to ignore.
Originality/value
This paper charts a course through some of the author’s thinking and actions in the digital information world over the last 30 years. Its premise is that COVID-19 creates a fertile ground for library and information professionals to grasp the opportunities before them to realise aspirations which have been long held.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper in this Special Issue was specifically invited because of the expertise of the author to respond to the issues raised in the Editorial at https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-04-2020-143. The paper is part of the Issue of the Worst Case Scenarios and the Virus. Each paper has been formally reviewed and the author has responded to the comments in the customary manner.
Citation
O'Brien, L. (2021), "Never waste a good crisis", Library Management, Vol. 42 No. 4/5, pp. 282-286. https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-11-2020-0165
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited