“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing is nothing.” – Teddy Roosevelt In this time of almost unprecedented global crisis, I have been consistently amazed at the creative responses coming from individuals, companies, organizations and communities. When the going got tough, lots of people got going in ways that weren’t predictable.

The Arts Council of Indianapolis is expected to advocate for its members, all of whom immediately found themselves in crisis as a result of the social shut down. The organization quickly stepped up to the plate by creating a social movement, including the hashtag #IndyKeepsCreating, giving artists a forum to share their work in any way they chose and soliciting donations to keep them working. The effort was truly remarkable and healing.

When senior-care facilities became the epicenter of coronavirus outbreaks, those facilities needed to amp up their care and their communications. Some started daily updates; some began doing walkaround Q&A wherein the CEO and others literally walked the streets of the senior community with a wireless mic and portable speaker and answered questions at a safe distance from people’s front porches. Others sent myth-busting communications to their residents and staff. They all realized that effective communication is essential to saving lives.

What were temporary adjustments in the way F.C. Tucker conducts business due to COVID-19, will now become permanent changes to the way Tucker agents sell real estate. Online real estate listings featuring video and photography are common, but F.C. Tucker agents never believed they were an acceptable substitute for an in-person showing. As in-person showings have become more challenging, realtors turned to guided virtual tours of homes for clients. Now, they plan to implement these guided virtual home tours as part of their regular course of business moving forward.

And, just this week, Circle City Broadcasting announced a partnership with Indianapolis Public Schools to produce and broadcast academic lessons to IPS students in grades K–8. This kind of creative thinking will allow families without reliable internet access to participate in e-learning, which is an idea whose time has definitely come.

We love observing and contributing to the creative ways that organizations have responded during this pandemic. While we do crisis communication every week of the year, we are impressed by the creative things organizations are doing, saying and accomplishing that go above-and-beyond expectations. Doing the right thing, or even the wrong thing, but doing something creative in a time of crisis is to be celebrated!