Resiliência Empresarial – BSI e Cranfield School of Management

Summary

Organizational resilience is the ability to adapt to both incremental changes and sudden disruptions. This evolving concept spans five phases: from preventative control to mindful action, performance optimization, and adaptive innovation, culminating in paradoxical thinking. Companies must balance defensive and progressive agendas, embracing both consistency and flexibility. A new foresight methodology—combining foresight, insight, oversight, and hindsight—helps organizations navigate uncertainty. The key takeaway is that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to resilience; a tailored, blended strategy is essential for long-term success in dynamic environments.

Takeaways

• 😀 Organizational resilience refers to the ability of a company to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and adapt to both incremental and sudden disruptions to survive and thrive.
• 😀 The concept of organizational resilience has evolved over 50 years, with thinking progressing through five distinct phases.
• 😀 The first phase of organizational resilience focused on preventative control, aiming to stop bad things from happening through systems and processes.
• 😀 The second phase emphasized mindfulness, where individuals were trained to be aware, alert, and careful to avoid risks and mitigate problems.
• 😀 The third phase introduced performance optimization, which was about improving existing processes, technologies, and markets to perform better and gain a competitive advantage.
• 😀 The fourth phase of organizational resilience encouraged adaptive innovation, where companies sought to disrupt their own markets and lead with radical changes.
• 😀 The fifth phase, paradoxical thinking, blends the first four phases to create a more holistic and tailored approach to organizational resilience.
• 😀 Two core drivers of organizational resilience are the defensive agenda (focused on preventing bad things) and the progressive agenda (focused on making things happen and driving change).
• 😀 Organizations must decide whether to focus on consistency (controlled, stable processes) or flexibility (diverse ideas, behaviors, and practices to remain agile).
• 😀 Successful organizations combine these approaches—balancing preventative control, mindful action, performance optimization, and adaptive innovation to stay resilient in the long term.
• 😀 The new foresight methodology encourages flexibility in managing resilience, incorporating foresight (anticipating threats), insight (understanding current conditions), oversight (monitoring systems), and hindsight (learning from the past).

Q & A

What is organizational resilience?

Organizational resilience is the ability of an organization to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and adapt to both incremental changes and sudden disruptions in order to survive and prosper.

What are the five phases of thinking on organizational resilience outlined in the report?

The five phases are: 1) Preventative control, 2) Mindful action, 3) Performance optimization, 4) Adaptive innovation, and 5) Paradoxical thinking.

How has the focus of organizational resilience evolved over time?

Initially, the focus was on preventing bad things from happening (phase 1). Over time, it shifted to a broader approach involving mindful action, performance optimization, and eventually adaptive innovation, which is about transforming the organization to disrupt its marketplace. The latest phase, paradoxical thinking, combines all previous phases into a more holistic and flexible approach.

What is the difference between a defensive agenda and a progressive agenda?

A defensive agenda focuses on stopping threats from happening (e.g., through systems and controls), while a progressive agenda is about actively making things happen within the organization (e.g., performance improvements or innovations).

What are the core drivers of organizational resilience identified in the report?

The core drivers are the defensive agenda (focused on preventing problems) and the progressive agenda (focused on driving progress and innovation).

What role do consistency and flexibility play in achieving organizational resilience?

Consistency is about maintaining stability and control, while flexibility is about being adaptable and open to new ideas, behaviors, and practices. Successful resilience requires a balance between these two approaches.

What are the four quadrants of organizational resilience, and how do they relate to the consistency-flexibility model?

The four quadrants are: 1) Preventative control (defensive, consistent), 2) Mindful action (defensive, flexible), 3) Performance optimization (progressive, consistent), and 4) Adaptive innovation (progressive, flexible). These quadrants represent different ways organizations approach resilience depending on their focus on consistency or flexibility.

What is the foresight methodology, and how does it support organizational resilience?

The foresight methodology is a framework designed to enhance flexibility in organizations. It includes four aspects: foresight (anticipating future threats and opportunities), insight (understanding current conditions), oversight (monitoring and measuring systems), and hindsight (learning from experience). It complements the plan-do-check-act methodology, which emphasizes consistency.

How does paradoxical thinking play a role in organizational resilience?

Paradoxical thinking involves blending both consistency and flexibility, rather than choosing one over the other. It allows organizations to adapt their resilience strategies to changing circumstances, balancing control with the ability to innovate and respond to new challenges.

Why is it important for organizations to recognize and integrate different approaches to resilience?

It's important because no single approach to resilience is effective in all situations. By recognizing and integrating different approaches, organizations can avoid blind spots and ensure they are prepared for a variety of challenges and opportunities in a rapidly changing environment.