Work changed drastically during the Covid-19 pandemic. While the sudden switch to remote operations was incredibly overwhelming, for many workers it was also a time of intense productivity. Many nonessential tasks fell away as organizations concentrated on their most mission-critical work.

Nelson Repenning, associate dean of leadership and special projects at the MIT Sloan School of Management, says this is a known phenomenon. “Organizations tend to become much more functional during a crisis,” he says.

“I can’t tell you how many managers I’ve talked to who report working in a crisis as the most satisfying, engaging, exciting work of their career,” he says. “But when the crisis is over, they don’t learn the right lessons. They go right back to the same way of thinking as before.”

 …