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This article is part of a series of articles on design thinking and thought leaders that transform into what we at CLC Advisors call “i.e.,” the “idea economy.” Where ideas become and transform into widgets for those who choose to dare mighty things to build something bigger than themselves. We are explorers of the universe.

“A gray rhino is a massive two-ton thing with its horn pointed at you, stomping the ground and getting ready to charge — and, most important, giving you the chance to act. It’s the thing we avoid calling what it is, like the so-called “black” and “white” rhino species that in reality are both gray. Paying attention to the gray rhino — that is, working to head off the things we can see in front of us.” — Michele Wucker, author “The Gray Rhino”

During these uncertain times as the world is changing daily in front us. Our way of living has been deeply impacted as the Coronavirus global pandemic spreads. Public health officials, scientists, futurists, strategists, and critics for years have stated the next global dilemma or crisis would not be weapons, but an outbreak of a health epidemic and infectious disease. On March 11, 2020, The World Health Organization officially declared the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, classifying COVID-19 as a disease that has spread over many countries and continents. The outbreak was not an unforeseen problem, but a recurrence. The world witnessed the SARS, MERS, and H1N1 outbreaks almost two decades ago and epidemiologists and security experts had been warning for some time that the US was unprepared. And when the pandemic caused global financial markets to crash, it merely was the catalyst that sent a house of cards tumbling after many warnings.

Author Michele Wucker calls obvious but ignored problems “gray rhinos,” a metaphor for “the massive two-ton thing with its horn pointed at you, stomping the ground and getting ready to charge — and, most important, giving you the chance to act. It’s the thing we avoid calling what it is, like the so-called “black” and “white” rhino species that in reality are both gray. Paying attention to the gray rhino — that is, working to head off the
things we can see in front of us.”

Michele Wucker coined the term gray rhino and introduced it in 2013 at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos to draw attention to the highly probable risks that don’t get their due. Her third book is the international bestseller, THE GRAY RHINO: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore. She speaks to high level audiences and has written for and been interviewed by publications around the world and has been recognized as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, among other honors.

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