As we speak, the 4th Industrial Revolution has begun. Are you ready to ride the wave? This is the fundamental question every director should ask before heading into fall.

Recall that the 1st Industrial Revolution was born in the 18th century, with steam power and mechanization of production. The mechanicalized version of the spinning wheel was able to produce threads 8 times faster than the traditional spinning one.

Electricity was used to make great advances in manufacturing and production during the 2nd Industrial Revolution. The interchangeable part was a new phenomenon.

The 3rd Industrial Revolution began in 1947 when the transistor was invented by Bell Laboratories.

The 4th Industrial Revolution is now underway. Although it was already in full swing before the pandemic 18 months ago, Covid-19 accelerated it. Our companies couldn’t be shut down so we found a way to keep them (and us) alive without having to commute to work. Artificial Intelligence was turned on high. Many of our drive-thru orders are now taken by voice-recognition algorithms. Social-distancing requirements have accelerated the use of robotics to pick your hamburger–and allowed many executives today to enjoy the added productivity of giving up their commutes.

The old norm is gone. RIP.

For both boards and managers, the key question is: How can all this workplace change create long-term opportunities rather than being a quick-fix to a crisis? Are you able to ride the wave and make the most of this revolution to attract and retain great talent? Here are some thoughts:

* Do not police. You should not think of having a policing tool that checks in on the hours a person who works from home is working. It will backfire. The word about such policing can spread faster than a virus through your culture and cause panic among the adults.

* Be smarter about space. Uber spent $130 million to build its new headquarters in San Francisco. According to reports, Uber is now looking to lease out 2/3 of their space. For larger companies, a hub-and-spoke model could be a better choice than a single headquarters. The New York City footprint has been reduced to 1/5 by Skinny. you can increase its size by adding smaller satellite offices in northern New Jersey and White Plains. This will allow employees to convert the time they spend commuting into productive work hours or family time. Your headquarters meeting can be held when you need it.

* Keep your talent top-notch Your HR professionals need to be able to think through a strategy to increase talent demand at both the high and low ends, as well as how they will deal with the “hollowing out of the middle”. Ask them about their plans, especially regarding in-demand technology personnel. Technology, as you know, is what will determine which companies gain or lose share.

For boards, two key to-dos:

1. Encourage your management teams and other stakeholders to examine Covid-19-related changes and make them permanent.

2. You might add the following agenda item to your next annual strategy/offsite session: “What could the 5th Industrial Revolution look like? What could it look like? What can the company do to prepare ?”

Do not be someone who looks back on the 4th Industrial Revolution. You can be one of the leaders that accelerated it.