The “In Their Own Words” series is a collection of short columns from some of Chicago’s most influential tech leaders. After a tumultuous 2020—with a global pandemic, civil unrest and a turbulent economy—Inno wanted to give Chicago's tech community an opportunity to reflect on the highs and lows of the last 12 months, and share how they're working smarter and better in the next 12. Each columnist was asked to answer the question: How are you and your company preparing for 2021?
For more columns like this, scroll to the end of the story.
2020 has felt like a lifetime. I have worked from a bed or from my basement, wearing sweatpants (exclusively sweatpants), for the last nine months. But here we are, on the cusp of 2021 and there’s light at the end of this dark tunnel—in the form of a much-anticipated vaccine. For the first time in months, we’re all feeling—dare I say it? Hopeful.
But before we get to 2021, it’s worth reflecting on this year. Thanks to the grit and resourcefulness of the Jellyvision team, we’ve made it. We’re tired, maybe a little bruised, but we’re unbroken. I cannot express enough my deep, deep gratitude to our team for bringing us through. We’re entering 2021 energized, cautiously optimistic and completely stir crazy—but that’s much better than expected.
This year, while we curated collections of masks and baked loaf after loaf of bread, we learned a lot. I’ll highlight two of our many lessons here.
First, we learned that working where, when and how we prefer drives productivity, and importantly, leaves energy for innovation. Going into next year, we’re embracing this lesson by encouraging fewer meetings and asynchronous work, and providing respites from Zoom stare-athons. We’re also piloting “Winter Fridays,” an initiative that bans video calls (with the exception of customer meetings; customers always come first) on Fridays, and clears all calendars after 1 p.m.
The second learning is not new, but its urgency has been highlighted by the pandemic: our health care system is confusing, and this confusion is driving up costs for both employees and employers. We know people don’t know the best way to seek treatment, get the lowest-cost prescription or what health plan to pick, and these uninformed decisions lead to increased costs. While health care spending has been on an unsustainable trajectory, now Covid is gasoline on the fire.
So, while we’re iterating on our flexible first approach to work and trying to get some sun during the bleak Chicago winter, we’re finding new ways to cut out the complexity of health benefits, improve health outcomes and lower benefits costs for all. In 2021, we’re helping employees make smart decisions, and flatten the trajectory of health care spending for employers.
And, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to keep doing it all in sweatpants.
