How Resilience Works

What is the nature of resiliency? Why do some people and organizations buckle under pressure and what makes others bend and ultimately bounce back?

How Resilience Works (HBR, May, 2002) explores the nature of individual and organizational resilience. In organizations, resilience is highly valued. As one of the article interviewees puts it, "More than education, more than experience, more than training, a person's level of resilience will determine who succeeds and who fails."

Research suggests that resilient people and organizations possess three fundamental characteristics that set them apart:

• They face reality head on without slipping into denial
• They find meaning in difficult circumstances based on strongly held values
• They have a knack for improvising solutions in the face of unfamiliar challenges

For social service directors leading organizations through especially challenging times, this article sparks some ideas about how to build personal and organizational resiliency:

• Ask yourself, "Do I truly understand and accept the reality of my situation? Does my organization?" Face internal and external challenges and opportunities without sugarcoating them. Create strategies and plans to deal with what is. Keep possibility and hope alive but avoid false optimism that turns into denial.


• Take advantage of the meaning-making power of your organization's mission, vision and value statements to build organizational resilience. Develop a communication strategy with your leadership team to regularly remind employees of the importance of their work.


• Encourage the innovation and creativity of staff. Employees often have inventive ideas about how to streamline work. They just need a vehicle to be heard.

The entire article is available for purchase at: http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2002/05/how-resilience-works/ar/1

Building Teams for Better Decisions

Patrick Lencioni, President of The Table Group, a consultancy aimed at organizational health and leadership, has some advice for "how leaders can survive and even thrive during difficult times." The best place to make an investment is in the overall health of the organization, with a primary focus on improving the functioning of the executive team.

Clarify the organization's values and purpose through the recommitment of these top managers. "A wise executive team will take this opportunity during slow times to build greater trust and behavioral cohesiveness," says Lencioni. "This will benefit the organization by minimizing politics and infighting…and it will allow the team to make better decisions."

The McKinsey Quarterly recently offered research-based advice about strategic decision making. Over the last decades behavioral economics has shown that, contrary to classical economic theory, individuals do not always behave rationally to achieve the best possible outcomes. So how do businesses and organizations work with "irrational" biases to achieve the best strategic decisions? A survey conducted in October of 2008 indicates that satisfactory outcomes were most likely associated with "robust debate, an objective assessment of the facts, and a realistic assessment of [organizational] capabilities." Over 2,200 executives representing a range of industries, regions and functional specialties responded to the survey. Three themes emerged from those satisfied with their decision making processes.

• Tailor the evaluation approach to the specific decision.


• Seek contrary evidence: ensure that decision makers have critical information, give dissenting voices the floor, review the decision carefully even though it may have already been given the go-ahead by senior management, and ensure that innovative ideas are considered.


• Base the decision on a mix of targets, both financial and strategic and short- and long-term.

Ideas summarized and synthesized from:

The McKinsey Quarterly, "Flaws in strategic decision-making: McKinsey Global Survey Results," January 2009. http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Flaws_in_strategic_decision_making_McKinsey_Global_Survey_Results_2284

Patrick Lencioni's Point of View, "The ‘Down Economy' Bandwagon", January 2009. http://www.tablegroup.com/pat/povs/pov/?id=25