Tuesday 21 April 2020

Good common sense | Major entrepreneur Paul Renson (CEO Renson) on the Covid-19 crisis

Paul Renson: "The Covid-19 crisis has made me realise that we’ve pushed nature too far, tried too hard to test the boundaries of our abilities…". According to Paul Renson, CEO Renson, we need to analyse the causes of this crisis and learn from this, so that we are ready for the future.
 
Who in a million years could have predicted this situation? Were we naive? Did we think to ourselves, ‘You may have pulled the wool over their eyes, but not mine’? In my opinion? Yes! Even worse: This crisis has made me realise that we’ve pushed nature too far, tried too hard to test the boundaries of our abilities… Naturally, it’s crucial that we get back to work as quickly – and safely – as possible to limit the damage to the economy. That’s not up for debate. However, to get there, everyone has to be healthy and in shape, which means possessing a certain amount of mental and physical fortitude. As far as I’m concerned, that means it’s high time for us to finally start looking at the bigger picture.

“Never waste a good crisis”

In my opinion, just focussing on ‘taking care of damage control and making up for lost time as quickly as possible’, without zooming out and analysing what structural changes are needed in a post corona era, would be a missed opportunity.  This is the perfect time to reflect on what went wrong in the past and to find out why it went wrong in the first place. Instead of having to remedy the issue, this is something we can prevent in the future.

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When I look back on my childhood, I remember having a ball, a bike and wanting nothing more than to play outside. In my opinion, we’ve got to find a new balance for the future. It’s one that should hover between the artificial and the natural, between once again maximising our production, on the one hand, and maintaining the good mental and physical health of the employees responsible for making that happen, on the other.

Get people closer to nature again

And that’s something that we at Renson were well aware of long before this crisis hit. We get people closer to nature again by making clever use of natural elements (sun, light, air). To make the maximum contribution needed to get our economy back on the rails, people need to be able to lead healthy lives. It’s essential for people to relax, exercise, eat healthy, properly recharge (get a good night’s sleep), and get the most out of what nature has to offer under the best conditions to obtain the energy they need.  Or…as the Renson baseline puts it, by: ‘Creating Healthy Spaces.

The positive impact of outdoor living

I think we need to become a more outdoorsy people again and make sure we don’t just spend all our time stuck in front of a laptop, TV or with a smartphone in hand. That’s especially true when you’re aware of the positive impact outdoor living can have on our development, recovery and well-being. With nature as our ally, we’ll keep everyone’s mental and physical health in tip-top shape.

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This unprecedented crisis challenges us to consider the specifics of how we should do things differently in future. For example, just consider teleworking and flexible working, which could contribute to a solution to back-to-back traffic jams. Or think about the growing importance of local production and buying local.  The transition to a sustainable economy has to be made, with more focus on our health and nature. ‘Health is wealth.’
It’s time for indoor and outdoor life to merge,  to introduce nature back into the city.

Learn from this crisis and keep an eye on the road ahead

The lesson to be learned from this crisis is that to be ready for the future, we’ve got to be stronger. And if I could give you a single piece of advice, it would be this, ‘Above all, keep an eye on the road ahead.’ For example, we’re a company that values innovation. Well, that’s something we’ll continue to invest in, in IT, R&D and marketing. And that’s all with one clear goal in mind – to continue distinguishing ourselves, even when this has all blown over.

A sustainable economy driven by innovation and with a focus on global health – that’s the key to successfully getting the Belgian economy back on its feet once the crisis is over. If we all use our good common sense, then we’re sure to succeed!

Meanwhile, I want to wish everyone loads of luck, plenty of courage and the best of health!

Paul Renson 
CEO Renson