At the beginning of a new journey, challenges are imminent
On a Geneva morning, a subtle tension permeated the circular conference room on the 30th floor of the Foundation's headquarters. This was the first global strategy meeting since Cheng Han, Nila, Luca, and Kadir took over as the joint secretaries-general. Around the large, curved table sat regional directors from every continent, many of whom had been with the Foundation since its founding.
Cheng Han had just finished his opening statement, laying out a new three-year strategic direction centered on "agile response, deep empowerment, and cross-industry integration." The conference room was silent, with only the gentle hum of the air conditioning system.
"It's an interesting idea." Finally, Director Chen, who has been in charge of the Asia-Pacific region for over fifteen years, pushed his glasses up. His voice was steady but weighty. "But isn't it too... radical? The system established during Xiaoyu's time has worked very well. Why such a large-scale adjustment?"
When the waves of change hit the solid embankment, the first echo is always questioning.
Just as Nila was about to speak, there was a sharp knock on the conference room door. Cheng Han's assistant hurried in and leaned over to whisper something in his ear. Cheng Han's face suddenly darkened.
"Everyone, I apologize for interrupting this meeting." He turned to the room. "I just received news that Huanyu, the world's largest social networking platform, has experienced a serious malfunction due to an algorithm upgrade, causing complete chaos in the information flow."
Luca immediately realized, "Is it the platform with two billion users that's deeply embedded in modern people's social lives?"
"Yes. Even more serious," Cheng Han said, manipulating his tablet to display real-time data on the home screen, "is that the outage has triggered collective anxiety worldwide. Users' homepages are now filled with completely random, even contradictory, content, completely shattering their sense of security."
On the screen, social media monitoring data fluctuated violently like an out-of-control electrocardiogram:
The hashtag #HuanyuCollapse topped the global trending search within ten minutes
Anxiety-related keyword usage surges 400%
Crisis hotlines are reaching capacity
Kadir stood up. "We need to activate the emergency plan immediately."
"That's exactly the problem," Director Chen calmly pointed out. "The foundation's emergency response plan is designed for natural disasters and localized social crises. Faced with this new global, digital psychological crisis, our existing system is like catching rain with a fishing net—it's riddled with holes."
The real test always comes when you are least prepared.
The four new secretaries-general exchanged glances quickly. Cheng Han took a deep breath and made his first major decision.
"Everyone, this meeting is adjourned." His voice was clear and firm. "I declare the activation of 'Lighthouse Emergency Response'. From now on, all regional leaders around the world remain online, and headquarters has entered emergency status."
Over the next half hour, the command center transformed into a vibrant "war room." Unlike traditional hierarchical command, the four Secretaries-General demonstrated a unique collaborative model:
Cheng Han led the technical team to quickly analyze the technical details of the platform failure and its impact on user psychology;
Nila mobilized a global community network to collect emotional responses and needs from the front lines everywhere;
Luca is responsible for establishing emergency communication channels with the "Huanyu" platform and other international organizations;
Kadir coordinated resources to ensure that crisis intervention could be implemented accurately.
However, challenges followed.
The CEO of the "Huanyu" platform rejected the foundation's suggestion of intervention, believing that it was only a "temporary technical problem."
"They don't understand," Luca said, shaking his head after the call ended. "This isn't a technical glitch. This is a massive psychological trauma going on."
Even more problematic was the complete ineffectiveness of the foundation's traditional intervention methods. The psychological counseling hotline was inundated with calls, but counselors found that clients' problems were highly homogeneous and characterized by extreme anxiety, making conventional counseling methods ineffective.
"We're like trying to drain the ocean with a teacup," a senior supervisor said wearily during a video call.
When the old map cannot guide the new journey, the only way out is to draw a new map.
A turning point appeared in an unexpected corner. Nila noticed that during the platform outage, users of some niche, decentralized social applications were relatively stable.
"Because the algorithms on these platforms don't aim for addictiveness," she explained, "users inherently have more control over their information flow."
At the same time, Cheng Han's team found that some users of the "Huanyu" platform spontaneously formed mutual aid groups to share skills in dealing with information confusion.
"Look at this post," Cheng Han pointed at the screen. "A user created a 'survival guide to the information storm,' teaching people how to maintain mental balance in this abnormal state. This post has been forwarded tens of thousands of times."
Kadir's eyes lit up: "We've been thinking about how to 'treat' them, but maybe we should think about how to 'empower' them?"
Based on this insight, the team quickly adjusted their strategy. Instead of trying to be the sole "lighthouse," they focused on lighting up millions of "small lights":
Open source toolkit: An urgent "Psychological Self-Help Guide for the Digital Age" was produced, which includes simple breathing exercises, attention management techniques and methods for coping with information overload, and was released to the world using an open protocol.
Empower key nodes: Identify and contact the creators of spontaneously formed mutual aid groups, provide them with professional psychological support training, and enable them to become "stabilizers" in their communities.
Cross-border collaboration: Luca successfully persuaded the CEOs of several competing platforms to establish a temporary information sharing mechanism to jointly respond to the crisis.
The effect was immediate. Twenty-four hours later, although the Huanyu platform had not yet been fully repaired, monitoring data showed:
User anxiety index dropped by 35%
The number of spontaneous mutual aid groups increased by 200%
The Self-Help Guide has been translated into 48 languages
True resilience is not being indestructible, but being able to reassemble faster after being broken.
At the post-crisis debriefing meeting, Director Chen took the initiative to stand up and said, "I apologize for my earlier doubts. You have proven that new era problems require new era solutions."
Cheng Han smiled and responded, "No, Director Chen, your questioning is necessary. It reminds us that innovation cannot abandon tradition, but must grow on the basis of tradition."
That evening, the four Secretaries-General gathered on the terrace outside their offices, the Geneva sky ablaze with stars and the city lights stretching out beneath them.
"You know what touched me most today?" Nila said softly. "It wasn't that we resolved the crisis, but that in the midst of it, so many people spontaneously reached out to help strangers around them."
Luca nodded. "This demonstrates the solid foundation laid by Professor Li Xiaoyu and her colleagues. The concept of healing has taken root in people's hearts. What we need to do now is to allow it to grow in more diverse ways."
Kadir gazed into the distance: "New challenges lie ahead. Digital ethics, ecological anxiety, intergenerational divides... our journey has only just begun."
Cheng Han raised the teacup in his hand: "For the new distant future."
"For the new distance." The four cups clinked gently.
Behind them, the lights of the Foundation headquarters remained bright, like a heart that never rested, conveying a warm current of understanding to this complex yet beautiful world. And their story was turning a new page.
"Our predecessors have paved the way, but we are going to a new and distant place."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
