are selfinflicted the excessive financial leverage that provides sugar highs while weakening fundamentals in the long term lax processes that lead to inventory buildups clogging supply chain arteries like some pernicious cholesterol or most devastating a lack of focus on building consumer and human relationshipsthese are comorbidities that can prove fatal when pandemictype shocks rock the system these dangers lurk beneath the surface during good times and so it is imperative for corporates to be ever mindful of the first principles of good management practiceswfh aint no wfoone such dimension that has been tested by the pandemic is on working arrangements there has been a lot of focus on new models of working in the wake of the pandemic i have to confess i was amazed by the overnight switch to wfh across corporate india and as we now witness a calibrated return to the workplace we are confronted with the larger question on the future of work many have opined that wfh is going to be a megatrend of this decade i have a slightly contrarian view the office after all isnt just a place where we come to work it is a melting potof people ideas and conversations the coming together of people with diverse skills and experiences is what makes an office more than just a place of work this is what defines culture this is what creates magic culture is not some amorphous code that gets handed out to employees it emerges from human interactions its hard to imagine that this is possible on a sustained basis by talking to computer screensat the margin dispersed working has two distinct advantages that need to be harnessed it offers employees the choice to be productive even if their personal circumstances force them to be tethered at home it also allows organisations the ability to recruit a more diverse set of people but i do expect most companies to revert to the precovid workplace equilibrium in large parts once the pandemic is quelledbuild your reservesperhaps most importantly the last year has forced an inward look the people companies and nations who have emerged stronger have been the ones who had accumulated reserves of strength and not necessarily the ones who were sprinting the fastest in each of our professional contexts we will often be called upon to be innovative disruptive and resilient but i have learnt that these outcomes do not necessarily stem from moments of individual brilliance but from the patient building of reserves continuously upskilling to build reserves of knowledge openness to the world to build a reserve of ideas and collaboration and teaming to build reserves of goodwillnow is perhaps a good time to take stock of each of our personal reserves and the meaning of our work an honest assessment could well be the best investment one can make in 2021 the chance to start with a blank sheet of paper and the three words what matters isi hope you find the process of