11 - Developing Resilience
The chapter opens with a quote from inventor Thomas Edison: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." This is in the context of his creation of the electric light bulb: as the legend goes, his laboratory made thousands of prototypes experimenting with different metals to discover a combination that would glow brightly and sustainably. In general, Edison's methodology was brute-force, trying many things to see what would succeed.
This is resilience - the recognition that trial-and-error involves making many errors, and having the willpower to try and try again in spite of multiple failures until a solution is found. This is not at all unique: many inventors have many failures before succeeding, many writers are rejected repeatedly before they find a company that will publish their work, and so on.
Resilience is often mischaracterized as a personal quality that results from genetic variables - that some people are tenacious and others are not. But this is a misunderstanding: resilience is a character trait, like any other, that is developed instead of being innate. It is generally the result of experience and expectations: when a person is severely damaged by failing, or sees others damaged by their failures, he loses the incentive to take on risk. Early childhood experience will give a person a starting point, but their experiences later in life will influence their level of risk-tolerance.
And this is where organizations have the ability to foster or undermine the resilience of their employees. If the punishment for failure is severe, then employees become reluctant to take risks. If the firm accepts that mistakes are stepping stones to success and encourages employees to keep trying, then they will do so.
It is often seen that an individual who was highly successful in one company or department fails to be as successful in his next assignment. The difference is not intrinsic to the person, but a reaction to culture. And as organizational culture is created by the leaders, so it follows that the resilience of employees is influenced by the choices leaders make.
Characteristics and Benefits of Resilience
The characteristics of resilient individuals are often considered in two specific contexts: the degree of eagerness they show when confronted with a challenge/opportunity and the tenacity with which they persevere in spite of the obstacles they encounter.
In terms of their working styles, resilient individuals are described as flexible, adaptive, and optimistic. They tend to be highly independent, and learn from their failures rather than repeating mistakes. They are often very focused on accomplishments rather than their image or esteem.
The authors list some of the benefits of resilience:
- Increased employee empowerment and engagement
- Greater job satisfaction and productivity
- Lower employee stress and reduced absenteeism
- Higher levels of innovation
- Lower resistance to change
- Flexibility and adaptability to external obstacles
In all, companies with resilient employees tend to have better financial performance than those with less resilient ones. Employees who feel more empowered, less leery of retaliation when they make mistakes, take intelligent risks and have higher productivity.
(EN: As in all things, I sense a need for balance and moderation. There is a point at which each of these characteristics stops being positive - the "resilient" employee becomes an arrogant maverick and a loose cannon. There can be too much of a good thing.)
Building up Resilience
There's some vague encouragement to create a culture that supports resilience, followed by a succotash of tips:
- Provide a positive image of the future
- Create supportive networks and healthy relationships
- Focus energy on things within a person's authority and control
- Avoid creating panic over crises and obstacles
- Encourage employees to take action on their own initiative
- Build self-confidence and empathy.
(EN: This entire section seems vague and wishy-washy, and not directly related. To foster resilience requires only a few things: refrain from punishing failure, encourage learning from mistakes, and give a clear sense of empowerment/authority within boundaries.)
The authors (Sort of) get back on track, considering resilience at three levels:
- The Individual - Resilience requires a combination of humility and courage to accept that perfection is going to take multiple attempts and that there is going to be opposition. A person who expects easy success is going to lose their drive quickly.
- The team - Resilience often requires colleagues to function as a support network and not as a lynch mob. High competition and poor sportsmanship among peers creates a social environment in which people avoid risk and fear failure.
- The organization - Above all, the organizational culture must support risk-taking, treat failure as an opportunity to learn, and refrain from punishing those who "try and fail"
Support is needed at all three levels. A highly resilient person will be worn down over time unsupportive colleagues and a vengeful organization.
Economic Benefits of Resilience
There follows some vague claims about the economic benefits of resilience to the firm, but these largely parallel what was previously promised of a firm that supports psychological health in general: more engaged employees, less absenteeism, less turnover, greater contribution, and the like.
The Constant Need for Resilience
The chapter ends with a long, rambling anecdote from an executive who was hired into a series of jobs in which he had to fix an organization that was in shambles. This is quite common: a person is hired into a disaster, cleans it up and gets it running well, and then is called upon to fix another disaster.
The basic pattern is to set reasonable expectations (it will take time and there will be setbacks), build morale among the staff, shield people from negative feedback, and lay a plan that has many contingencies and fall-backs. Success comes at the end of a series of failures, and there's no way around that.