Experts warned of a pandemic decades ago. Why weren't we ready? Despite years of warnings and several close calls, most countries and many businesses were still caught off guard by COVID-19. Few government or business leaders even considered a pandemic, and now most are in a rush to return to ‘normal’ as soon as possible. But as much as we all want to return to life before the pandemic; it would be a mistake to focus on turning back the clock. Instead, firms need to wake-up to the interconnectivity of the grand challenges we face in the world, and realise opportunities to build synergistic solutions tackling the root causes of the pandemic and building resilience.