\u201cResilience\u201d has been a popular topic of business books and articles in recent years. Not surprisingly, given the COVID-19 health and economic crisis, there\u2019s a resurgence of interest in what being resilient means.
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Resilience is the capacity of an organization to bounce back or absorb a disruption while retaining its basic structure and function (Resilience Thinking, <\/em>by Brian Walker, David Salt). In a complex world, disruption is inevitable, so being able to absorb it is crucial. However, many organizations respond to upheaval in a way that makes things worse, or at least doesn\u2019t help\u2014they focus on tightening control and becoming more efficient. We try to predict the future, based on the most recent crisis, then strengthen our structure and processes. But as Gen. Stanley McChrystal writes in Team of Teams<\/em>, today\u2019s world is complex, interdependent and rapidly changing. You can\u2019t predict and plan for an infinite number of contingencies. Moreover, the typical hierarchical (efficiency based) organizational structure is too rigid and slow to react. A single leader or executive group can\u2019t learn enough fast enough to tell everyone what to do in response to the complexity on the ground. McChrystal urges building resilience, the key to which is adaptability. Instead of trying to build systems for responding to specific threats, accept that you\u2019ll face unpredictable threats and build systems to roll with the punches. Create a network of teams that can instantly organize a response. For this to work, ensure that your teams constantly share information and collaborate across functions. Resilient systems not only withstand threats, they learn to benefit from them like immune systems.
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