President Steenkamp: How do we want to rebuild?

As part of my daily work, I am often engaged in thinking and talking about what recovery looks like when we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. What values do we want to model and support as we go forward as citizens, employees, educators and creators?

I think that’s why I have so enjoyed Mark Carney’s new book, Value(s): Building a Better World for All. The former bank governor examines what we value, and why, and writes about the crises of our times: “credit, COVID and climate”.

In this week's video, I talk about a central question in the book, and a very important one for recovery: what kind of world do we want to rebuild? Carney says that we ought to focus on not just the direction of growth, but the quality of that growth as well. He says that our response can be to build back better. As we have re-discovered during the pandemic, we can prioritize health for all and respond to challenges with fairness, compassion and solidarity. Why not do the same when restructuring an economy?

I recommend picking up a copy of the book. It’s great inspiration for the challenge that is ahead of all of us, and a good reminder that it’s healthy to examine our values every now and then to see if they still fit.