What Makes Organizations More (or Less) Resilient Lynnda Nelson President The International Consortium for Organizational Resilience (ICOR)

The World is Getting Riskier Traditional corporate strategies are no longer protecting us from unexpected events or constant change. The imperative to be resilient is high with the need to ensure the continuity of essential services in the face of all hazards and constant change. Attributes of organizational resilience need to be better understood and integrated into an organization’s everyday life, philosophy and culture.

What is Resilience? “ Resilient organizations are sensing, agile, networked, prepared, consider outrageous possibilities, learning how to survive before the fact.” Starr, Newfrock & Delaney. (2007) “Resilience is not something you do ……it is something you are.” Dr Erica Seville (2008 ) “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” “In the long history of humankind (and animal kind too) it is those who have learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively that have prevailed.” Charles Darwin

Organizational Resilience & Adaptive Capacity Organizational Resilience: An outcome of an organization’s capability to anticipate and respond to disruption related risks and its capacity to adapt to complex or changing circumstances under conditions of uncertainty. ISO Adaptive capacity the extent to which an organization or an individual can adjust to a range of conditions that deviate from normal expectations and provide an effective and sustainable response to deal with changing circumstances. ISO 22316

Organizational Resilience & Adaptability Resilience Adaptability / Adaptive Capacity: ability to change / be agile, to change as needed in order to survive and thrive. Bouncing Back / Forward Continuing Operations Withstanding Impacts Resilience is impacted by an organization’s adaptive capacity

Principles of Organizational Resilience Outcome & Dynamic Alignment of Behaviors Alignment of Decision-Making Capabilities Understanding of Internal/External Environments Effective Leadership at all Levels Integrated Management of Risk Diversity of Skills, Knowledge & Experience Ability to Manage Disruptive Incidents & Change

Attributes of Resilient Organizations Common characteristics that contribute to a more resilient state Organizations should determine how to develop chosen attributes to strengthen resilience The attributes should be measured and monitored to determine the extent to which they support organizational goals and objectives

Strategies to Enhance Resilience Strategies should support the meeting of an organization’s short, medium, and long term goals Provide a mandate to ensure commitment Understand context of resilience objectives Systems that support implementation of the strategies A culture of continual improvement

Focus of Resilience Objectives Protection of business systems. These systems need to be robust enough to survive various assaults and/or intrusions. Adaptation is required when circumstances change, demanding a change in the business focus, structure and processes. Performance refers to the need to get things right the first time and to move quickly to correct errors.

Improving Resilience Capabilities

Shared Vision & Clarity of Purpose Clear understanding of organization’s vision and purpose Core values are consistently applied in all decision-making Information sharing is encouraged Flexibility and agility is built into management systems. Alignment between all processes (eliminate silos!)

Strong Leadership Throughout Organization The organization intentionally develops trusted and respected leaders who are empowered to make decisions that support the longevity of the organization.  Think strategically  Effectively communicate  Decisive Employees are encouraged to provide input to key decision-making processes.  Change leadership style as needed  Learn from experience  Persuasive

Healthy Culture That Supports Resilience Regular & Open Communication and Cooperation Trust, Loyalty, & Respect Between all Interested Parties Employees are empowered to share & solve problems before they escalate Protection of Organization’s Brand and Reputation is a Shared Responsibility

Risk is Managed Throughout Organization Consideration of risks to strategic and operational objectives is central to all significant decisions taken by the organization. The management of risk is integrated throughout the organization & consistent with its risk appetite.

Anticipates & Plans for Disruptive Incidents Situational Awareness – Capacity to Anticipate & Plan for Responses to Changing Circumstances  Identify & track emerging risks  Deal swiftly & appropriately with unexpected problems  Build flexibility to absorb impacts

Adequate Knowledge & Information Intelligence, information and learning is retained so that the right people can use it, even when people leave. Learning is encouraged from experience and past difficulties so that they are not repeated.

Competent People to Support Objectives Able to Recognize Precedence Able to Tolerate Ambiguity Creative & Agile Able to Cope with Stress Able to Learn Employees are sought specifically to meet the vision and mission of the organization’s resilience objectives.

Maintains Adequate Resources Resources applied to meet business as usual requirements have sufficient flexibility and agility to respond to changing circumstances. Redundancy Capacity Availability Change Control Monitoring Integrated

Local & Global Connectivity is Understood Strong relationships with internal and external interested parties Collaboration between supply and value chain partners Customer-centric approach including open communication Understanding of critical dependencies Regular evaluation of interdependencies for use in decision-making

Encourages & Supports Innovation Creativity and innovation play an important role in an organization’s ability to deal with challenges and disruptive incidents.  Analyze customer needs to support improvements  Provide incentives to encourage creativity & innovation  Undertake horizon scanning  Ensure a suitable level of governance

Performance Monitored at all Levels Establish a culture of continual improvement to meet the changing needs of the organization.  Communicate, measure, and reinforce performance initiatives  Foster a culture that values learning over blame  Demand accountability yet provide a capacity for trying new things within agreed boundaries of tolerance  Adopt a process for reviewing near misses and learning from others

Demonstrates a Change-Ready Capability The organization is able to adapt to change (of varying sizes) when it is needed.  Capacity to absorb impact of sudden & unexpected disruptive incidents  Able to adapt or transform as needed  Firm commitment for protection, performance, and adaptation while also demonstrating ability to shift focus  Awareness of all situations and anticipates conditions likely to give rise to future risks and opportunities

Map Attributes to Strategic Objectives Map attributes to objectives to evaluate alignment to strategy Determine gaps and consider how to address them.

Challenges for Resilience Practitioners There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all. Peter F. Drucker

Questions? Lynnda Nelson