The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has put the industrialized world on lockdown, closing schools , shuttering stock exchanges, and temporarily turning our world into a containment zone.

With companies everywhere telling employees to work remotely, the need for a manager who “checks on you” has suddenly evaporated.

If anything, this outbreak proved to everyone that life is complicated enough, especially now, to be managed by people who walk the halls of your company and seek power and self-worth by dominating others.

In this new world of “work-from- home ,” creatives feel free from antagonisms of the old, and the creators of new.

Getting people to perform competitively in environments where remote work relies on individual resourcefulness, the in-your-face old school management has died.

No more interactions like: “Where are you today?” or “When are you coming in?”

Social distancing is demolishing age -old office hierarchies

Navigating the new-normal, managers must understand that regardless of location, position or title, everyone on the team has merit and value, and is worth listening to, no matter where they are working from; home, office or Bali.

In this day and age, managers understand that their job is not to manage, but to partner, listen, and to stay productive at a time of great struggle.

The value of “the boss” has literally dropped to zero. In these challenging times, self-directed creative people flourish, and they do so through partnerships, relationships, and software, not top-down orders and office antics.

In a world where everyone is scrambling for answers, remote workers become life hackers, and brainy introverts can solve unprecedented problems better than ever since office hierarchies have become invisible.

The brightest and most proactive workers will shine, with or without a manager, and we all see this now.

Working from home will be more common than ever

By March 2020, thousands of companies worldwide called on employees to work from home, according to the financial data platform Sentieo .

Will companies collapse due to the lack of a local manager breathing down their necks? Not all of them. Those who already have a modern and creative culture will thrive and survive because productivity and management are based on trust and inventiveness.

Modern leadership applies ingenuity and creativity to challenging times while being concerned for the safety of their team and their families.

They don’t just talk about business and the obvious situation we’re in. They lead with compassion and innovation.

They use Zoom and Slack, Dropbox and gDocs, Asana and Basecamp, and even find ways to thrive, against the odds.

Coronavirus is not just a virus, it’s a cultural tsunami

With COVID-19 changing everything we know, old school managers are obsolete.

The new leader will be responsible for cultivating top morale, creativity, and direction across physical, social and time barriers.

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Such leaders will be “software-natives” who can master modern tools for productive interaction, with fast learning curves and deeper technical acumen.

Collaborating with remote teams will be one of the most desired skills of a modern leader, and those who hold dear to titles, sports-jackets, and corner offices will fade, giving way to a better way to work.

A change for good

This crisis presents humanity with an opportunity: Deploy technology for a greater good, work with teams , companies and governments with less polarization, and get rid of what’s broken.

Work should be fun and enjoyable, not a miserable and demoralizing experience .

Today presents us with our best chance to hit the reset button and build better companies, cultures , and economy.

Falling out of a boat reminded me how to be a good CEO

Boris is the wise ol’ CEO of TNW who writes a weekly column on everything about being an entrepreneur in tech — from managing stress to embracing awkwardness. You can get his musings straight to your inbox by signing up for his newsletter!

I’ve got a tiny cabin by a lake, which is a great place to unwind during these challenging times. The cabin is only accessible by boat, which isn’t so much a downside as an excellent quality to have in the case of a zombie apocalypse. It also means I spend a lot of time on a boat, and lately I’ve been pondering the similarities of piloting a boat and navigating life and business.

Seems far-fetched? Let me explain: Actions taken behind the steering wheel rarely have an immediate effect, but can have delayed, yet serious consequences. This means there’s a lot of anticipating, planning, and projecting involved.

My boat’s pretty small (less than 5 meters long) and easy to maneuver, but almost everything has a delay on a boat: I turn the steering wheel, which turns the engine, which then gently pushes the boat to go into a particular direction. Between the turning of the wheel and the turning of the ship is a noticeable delay.

Then, way before the boat has turned into the right direction, I’m already counter steering, or I’ll overdo the turn. A small turn of the wheel doesn’t seem to have much of an effect, but once the whole boat starts turning, that change off-course can make you miss your target by miles.

Small steps can have grave consequences, and although a lot of things happen in slow-motion, the effects of your actions have a certain inevitability to them — especially mooring, which I almost always get wrong.

Mooring and micromanagement

It should be just as simple as parking a car, but it isn’t. First of all, a turn isn’t a turn. While ‘drifting’ is really only for skilled drivers to show off, it’s a totally normal part of boating. Every turn you make, there’s some drifting. Some boats are more stable than others, but there’s always some drift — and the current, wind, and how heavy your boat is loaded all have an effect.

Another thing you don’t need to worry about when parking a car? Tying the ropes to the dock. That’s where the management exercise of boating kicks in.

It’s best everybody on board has a clear idea on what their role is, but if you start to micromanage you end up forcing yourself to do everything on your own… which can lead to your own hilarious ‘downfall.’

Give contradicting instructions, and three people will jump off at the same time, holding the same rope. Take the captain role too seriously, and your children will complain they thought this was supposed to be a fun boat ride, so why are you suddenly screaming at them to follow orders?

Don’t try to do everything on your own, and think ahead

My most infamous incident of trying to take on all the roles by myself was when I tried to move a floating tree limb with my boat. My daughter was watching from the shore as I was tying a rope around the tree, witnessing my great undertaking.

While I was busying myself with the rope, I thought the engine was idling safely, but I had accidentally moved the gas handle forward a millimeter or two while trying to catch the tree.

The movement was slow, and I didn’t notice it at first, but the tree suddenly felt very heavy (because of the forward motion). I knew I had to make a split second decision; do I follow the tree into the water, or do I lose the tree and stick with the boat? I let go of the tree — the smart move — but I’d forgotten to think one step ahead: The sudden loss of dead-weight hurtled the boat forward.

I lost my balance, falling backward into the boat while losing my glasses and hat in the process. Suddenly the boat shot forward with great speed, with me upside-down in it, and we shot onto the shore and straight into the trees.

Only later did I conclude that after falling, I had landed on the gas handle with my butt, pushing it forward into the ‘full-throttle’ position.

It all happened within seconds, and my daughter almost peed herself with laughter, as the whole thing looked like a well-choreographed comedy routine: Dad tries to lift tree, unexpectedly drops tree, falls upside down, boat takes off, dad’s legs are sticking out of the boat, hat floats through the air, boat ends up on the shore, in the trees. Embarrassed dad rises from a stranded boat, wet and confused and disoriented.

Anyway, I’m not complaining, just saying that there are similarities. When you’re running a company or pursuing a career, a lot of small decisions will have a much larger impact later. And anticipating which way your well-meaning intentions float can save you a lot of aggravation and damage, and not just to your ego.

Can’t get enough of Boris? Check out his older stories here , and sign up for TNW’s newsletters here .

The weirdo’s guide to WFH productivity: Sanity shower, squats, and snacks

Are you working from home and is your productivity suffering as a result? Are traditional ‘normie’ tips failing you?

If the answer to both these questions is ‘yes,’ you’re in luck because I’m here to share three weird — but effective — productivity hacks that will help you solve this problem.

The sanity shower

At this point I don’t really need to tell you why you should take regular breaks throughout the day to clear your head, but what if you used one of those breaks to take a sanity shower?

It sounds strange, I know , but I can promise you it helps to boost productivity.

Picture this: You’re at your desk , emails are coming in fast, your Slack notifications are off the scale , and your phone rings.

You’re tired, frazzled, restless, and you need to get away. You get up, grab a towel, head straight to the shower and once there you literally wash away your stress .

As you lather in your shampoo or shower gel, you are transported to a calmer state of mind where all that matters is the present. Your only focus is how relaxed you currently feel and how soothing the water is against your skin — and not what your manager thinks about the report you just handed in or whether your client is content with your latest email reply.

Remember you’re working from home now. So don’t be constrained by the boring social conventions the office forced you to adhere to.

Believe me when I tell you that you’ll return to your desk feeling completely refreshed and ready for the challenges that await you. Try it for yourself and see how much your productivity improves.

The sanity squats

Squats create an anabolic environment — which is a fancy way of saying that it helps you improve muscle mass . But what if they could also help you be more productive?

When things get a little too much, I get up, walk into another room, hit my Spotify , and squat .

I’m not denying it’s strange, but it helps. I tend to stick to 20 or 30 squats at a time and once I’m done, I return to my computer, pick up where I left off, and use the endorphin-induced high to blitz my to-do list .

The sanity snack

People often say you should avoid snacking throughout the day but I think they’re missing a beat : The extent to which a healthy snack can boost your stagnating productivity .

This is how it goes: You get up and walk to your kitchen or fridge (that’s exercise, right?), grab what you want to eat, prepare it, and you eat it.

The time you spend doing this is time you are spending away from your computer screen, work, and all the annoying questions your colleagues are intent on asking. And if you happen to grab a banana, then congratulations because they’re considered to be “brain food “and making this choice proves you’re doing OK in life .

It goes without saying that the sanity snack is, by far, my favorite productivity hack but don’t underestimate the power of the sanity shower and sanity squats — just promise me you won’t try them out simultaneously.