I’ve been reading the Harvard Business Review’s excellent book on resilience. One of the best articles in it is How Resilience Works by HBR senior editor Diane Coutu, who finds that that “three fundamental characteristics seem to set resilient people and companies apart from others. One or two of these qualities make it possible to bounce back from hardship, but true resilience requires all three.” And they are these:
The first characteristic is the capacity to accept and face down reality. In looking hard at reality, we prepare ourselves to act in ways that allow us to endure and survive hardships. We train ourselves how to survive before we ever have to do so.
Second, resilient people and organisations possess an ability to find meaning in some aspects of life. And values are just as important as meaning; value systems at resilient companies change very little over the long haul and are used as scaffolding in times of trouble.
The third building block of resilience is the ability to improvise. Within an arena of personal capabilities or company rules, the ability to solve problems without the usual or obvious tools is a great strength.
