The COVID-19 outbreak is shaping up to be a trial by fire, straining many healthcare systems to their limits and testing the abilities of governments around the world. Similar to how companies need to manage their employees to beat their competition, governments need to manage their citizens to emerge victorious against the pandemic.
 

Even though “flattening the curve” seems to be our best hope of ultimately eradicating the virus, it can be a long-drawn-out process. What if it were possible to not just “flatten the curve”, but also to “shorten” it? While this is an emerging theory based on recent epidemiological studies, we believe that when coupled with effective governance and sufficient public health interventions, an understanding of personality and motivation can be key to “flattening and shortening the curve”. For governments, it is important to know your populace and their likely behaviour. As individuals, we can all play a part by consciously being aware of and managing our innate tendencies, which can be counterproductive during this pandemic.