Circumstances can elicit changes that are shown to work.  Under the pressure of necessity these can quickly be widely adopted.   Schedule shifting was shown to greatly improve traffic flow in the 1984 L.A. Olympics.  After that experience many employers became more flexible in their hours.  Telecommuting was shown to be feasible after earthquakes in Northridge in 94 and in Oakland later.  I would also point out how quickly both England and Germany adapted production to the effects of bombing in WWII.  If one is staring into the abyss....

Necessity is the mother of innovation and adaptation as well as of invention.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."