When the World Stopped
- Paris Norriss
- Jul 22
- 4 min read
The setup was PERFECT.
We were riding high into 2020 - the dawn of a new decade, my startup finally hitting its stride after years of grinding. This was supposed to be THE year. The breakout moment. The validation of every sleepless night and rejected pitch.
Then the ground shifted beneath us.
Like a storm brewing on the horizon, something started to feel off. Contracts vanished overnight. Bookings dried up. The energy changed, and suddenly we were all staring at our screens watching the world press pause.
Two weeks later, we were locked in our homes, cheering healthcare workers from balconies and turning living rooms into makeshift offices.
The Great Workplace Reckoning
The pandemic didn't just change how we worked - it exposed who had built truly resilient teams and who hadn't. Just at a time when you need your team to go over on above and deliver to pull out something special, the world had gone depressed. People were scared and the path forward for most people‘s businesses became very complicated.
By 2024, employee engagement fell to a 10-year low, but the real damage was done in those crucial early months when everything fell apart.
Here's what the data tells us about that historic moment:
43% of businesses had temporarily closed due to COVID-19
6.2 million people couldn't work because their employer closed or lost business
Nearly one-third of small companies had to close in 2020
But here's the kicker - while businesses were crashing, something incredible was happening. 2020 was actually a record year for new business applications. The grittiest entrepreneurs weren't just surviving; they were thriving. People who had their livelihoods turned upside down by other peoples decisions, were taking their life into their own hands.
The Mindset That Changes Everything
When I messaged my friend Sara in a moment of pure desperation, she dropped the truth bomb that changed my entire perspective:
"You can either let the situation determine your future, or you can use it to your advantage and move ahead."
That's when it clicked. This wasn't just MY problem - it was EVERYONE'S problem. While our competitors were taking two steps backwards, we only needed to take one step back to WIN. By changing the way I looked at it, I was now fully motivated again.
We pivoted HARD. Travel TV shows? Dead. But videos promoting sanitisation service? Suddenly we were the go-to team. We adapted, we hustled, and we found opportunity in the chaos.
The Three Pillars of Unbreakable Teams
1. HIRE FOR GRIT, NOT JUST SKILL
When the world falls apart, you need people who lean into the storm, not away from it. Stop hiring purely on technical ability.
Your interview process should dig deep into resilience. Look for experiences outside of work that gives you an indication that this person can fight against the odds. How can they bounce back from set backs? What drives them when everything goes wrong?
Ask questions like;
Tell me about your biggest professional failure. What did you learn from the experience?
What has been your most ambitious project and what kept you motivated?
Talk me through the the most difficult situation you faced, and your mentality for getting through it.
When evaluating answers, look for:
Ownership of failures rather than blaming others.
Specific, concrete actions taken to overcome adversity.
Evidence of learning and adaptation after setbacks.
Enthusiasm and diligence in pursuing long-term goals, even when progress is slow or difficult
2. BUILD A COMPETITIVE CULTURE
Here's the secret sauce: when everyone's struggling, taking one step back while others take two is actually WINNING. Train your team to see crisis as opportunity, it will transform their motivation. During the pandemic, employees shifted from relationship motivation factors to financial security concerns, but the best teams channeled that fear into competitive advantage.
Create a culture where difficulty energizes rather than deflates. When your team knows the competition is struggling too, they get EXCITED about the chance to pull ahead.
Getting people outside of the office, for training days that take them outside of their comfort zone and get people working together, competitively and in the same direction, hones the vibe you need.
3. INVEST IN RESILIENCE BEFORE YOU NEED IT
44% of employees experience physical fatigue from work-related stress, and 26% lack motivation or energy. You can't build mental fortitude during a crisis - you build it during the good times.
This isn't about rah-rah motivation speeches. It's about developing actual mental tools and frameworks that help teams align and push through when everything's falling apart. Think of it as insurance for your company culture.
I've developed something I call The Grit Code - With Paris Norriss which tackles just this.
The Uncomfortable Truth
The pandemic separated the wheat from the chaff. Teams that had invested in grit and resilience didn't just survive - they came out stronger. Those that relied on fair-weather motivation crumbled under pressure.
By September 2021, 85 percent of small businesses had completely re-opened, but many never recovered their pre-pandemic strength. The difference? The ones that thrived had built unbreakable teams BEFORE they needed them.
Your Turn
The next crisis is coming. Maybe it's economic, maybe it's technological, maybe it's something we can't even imagine yet. But it's coming, we just don't know when.
Are you building a team that will buckle under pressure, or one that will use adversity as fuel?
The choice is yours. But remember - you can't build resilience in a crisis. You will only reveal it.
What's your story? How did you and your team handle the pandemic's curveballs? What strategies helped you not just survive, but thrive when everything went sideways? I'd love to hear your stories in the comments
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