The Power of Resilience in Business
Building metaphorical strength can be the difference between failure and success, whether personally or in the context of business. This strength is sometimes called resilience.
Resilience is defined by psychologists as the “process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress.” In business, this means that your company can adjust to difficult situations, whether that be because of the job market or a dip in the economy, without losing critical functionality.
The business market is more unpredictable than ever before, and prioritizing resilience is unprecedentedly important. An obvious example of this can be seen in the current pandemic that threatens even the most stable of businesses. The companies that have been able to pull through and even thrive are the ones that have been flexible.
Any national or international crisis that disrupts extended global supply chains or contributes to the breakdown of economic activity can spell disaster, especially for small startups. However, building resiliency can be difficult because the leadership has to forgo a certain amount of short-term productivity for long-term adaptability. Identifying threats and potential risks that do not yet exist is another obstacle to overcome.
The Harvard Business Review’s “six principles of long-lasting systems”:
1. Redundancy
2. Diversity
3. Modularity
4. Adaptability
5. Prudence
6. Embeddedness
It is nearly impossible to measure or check resilience. The majority of companies already engage in risk management, but even the most comprehensive risk management systems often only tackle “specific and known risks.”
The concept can seem abstract at first glance, but think about companies whose business strategies have paid off. Some examples include Eric Kiariwala’s Capsule or the extremely successful Uber. Both of these companies saw a profit in 2020 despite all the challenges that were thrown at them.
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