The Resilience Advantage Part 2
In our first installment, “The Resilience Advantage Part 1: How to Thrive While Others Just Survive,” we defined resilience and what qualities or behaviors are found in a resilient organization. We also discussed what can happen when resilience goes too far, and how asking employees to be a bit too resilient can actually have a detrimental impact on their adaptability.
Of course, the goal for any organization should be to build a healthy level of resilience to support adaptability. But how do you know if your organization is deficient in this critical component of a healthy culture? And what can you do to overcome it, once that deficiency is discovered?
The first step is to start with an AQai Adaptability Assessment. By gathering metrics on the individual resilience of your team and the environment in your organization (along with the 14 other factors that contribute to adaptability), you will get a clear picture of your overall Adaptability Intelligence and any areas for improvement.
If you sense a lack of resilience in your organization, take a look around. In most cases, if you’re not intentionally cultivating a healthy level of resilience, the lack of that effort leaves a door open where the opposite can creep in. And that can quickly manifest in some toxic behaviors.
What Happens in the Void?
Despite the proven advantages of resilience, over one-fourth of profitable companies are under-investing in resilience (Source: Accenture).
“That’s a problem because, as you might expect, resilience must be actively cultivated and practiced in the organization in order to maintain it,” Sheets says. “Failure to do that creates a void, and when there’s a void, it’s inevitable that other behaviors will fill the gap.”
Those behaviors may be diametrically opposed to fostering resilience, blatantly causing more harm than good.
Watch for These Warning Signs of Low Resilience in your Organization:
● Us vs. Them Mentality.
Lack of resilience breeds an opposition mentality where members of the staff or leadership can feel like they’re perpetually fighting back against the other. Instead of seeing themselves as part of the same team, they can slip into an adversarial pattern, each trying to protect their ground.
● Keeping Secrets
When leadership doesn’t trust their team to handle change, it often results in keeping them on a “need to know” basis. They wait until decisions have already been made to announce them (if they announce them at all), don’t consider how a decision might affect the team or explain its “why”, or are dismissive—treating staff like they’re too naïve to understand. This further fuels the “us vs. them” mentality.
● Authoritarianism
Taking it up a notch, leaders might operate like dictators, issuing edicts with little regard for how they affect the rest of the team. This not only reflects the fact that they don’t trust their team but also care little about their well-being and personal resilience.
● Apathy
Have your employees checked out? Have they stopped speaking up or asking questions when they learn about a change or new initiative? Silence can be more damaging to adaptability than abject resistance. At least resistance shows that they care, but silence might be masking other issues.
● Pervasive Negativity
When resilience is gone, employees assume the worst. They default to assuming change will result in worse outcomes. And in this case, one bad apple can spoil the bunch by infusing negativity throughout their peer network.
● Punishment for Speaking Up
If a resilient organization welcomes feedback, a non-resilient one does the opposite: it tamps down or even punishes any kind of input. Leaders might say they want new ideas, but as soon as someone speaks up, they get their head chopped off. When there’s no room for dialogue, psychological safety, or collaboration, resilience will soon be snuffed out.
How to Build Resilience
If any of this sounds like your organization, it’s time to take action. Start with an AQai Adaptability Assessment to gauge exactly where your organization resilience stands, along with all the related factors that comprise Adaptability intelligence. Then you will have a roadmap for how much work you have to do and in what specific areas.
“While adaptability and resilience aren’t exactly the same, the AQai Assessment can give you clues about resilience, grit and other characteristics among your team,” Sheets says. “And it can give insight into their perception of how well the organization and its leaders support resilience—or if they actively undermine it.“
Then, consider these tactics to foster resilience.
● Validate Concerns
Ask for input and acknowledge any concerns or hesitation around change. While you might not be able to do this on a one-on-one basis, open communication and a boots-on-the-ground leadership style can help frontline leaders stay in the know about sentiment among the team. An engaged and responsive manager will receive more open communication in return, allowing them to know, not guess, when their people are feeling rested and ready versus beat down and overwhelmed.
● Maintain a Ready State
A healthy organization will be better able to withstand the shocks of change. Just as you might check your tire pressure, top off fluids or maybe get an oil change before going on a long road trip, doing some “preventative maintenance” with your people can help them to be more resilient. That means monitoring their stress levels, paying attention to mental health, making sure everyone feels supported and appreciated, is taking their PTO, and that staffing levels are appropriate for the work being done.
● Be on the Lookout
Resilience means being prepared and anticipating change that might be on the horizon. Having some cohort in the organization that’s constantly looking ahead and examining where the market is headed supports being proactive versus reactive. Google was once famous for its 20% time, which gave employees one out of five business days to pursue side projects that furthered the company’s mission. Having this time for creativity and thoughtful innovation is essential for resilience. If your team is constantly putting out fires and running right up against the rev limiter every day, it’s impossible for them to have time for any foresight.
● Find Influencers
You know those “Negative Nancies” that you can count on to spread dissent? You need to find their antitheses—the respected individuals who can disseminate your message and be the lubricant that alleviates the friction of resistance in your culture. These are people in the trenches with clout among their peers who have a sense of what it takes to unite a team.
● Debrief Initiatives
After any change initiative, have a look-back session where you acknowledge and show appreciation for the amount of work and dedication the team invested and demonstrate the impact. Because everyone may not see the effect an initiative had on the organization (a new inventory system might not seem relevant to the marketing department), it’s important to explain it. Close the loop so that the next time you ask your team to adapt, they’ll know there’s a reason behind the request.
● Own Mistakes
Be honest if you tried something that didn’t work. No one likes to admit an error or make a bad call, but displaying vulnerability builds trust (Source: DDI). Instead of making your team less apt to display resilience, admitting mistakes (assuming mistakes aren’t the norm) can make them more resilient and forgiving because your candor communicates respect for their time and efforts.
Resilience Aids Adaptability
You might think of resilience as the first component of Adaptability Intelligence. When change happens, the #1 task is don’t freak out. Resilience is about the speed of recovery-how fast you can absorb the shock, get your bearings, and approach any change with a can-do mindset. This not only reduces fear and resistance but also helps you to think clear-eyed about what to do next. And it’s in how you approach those next steps that Adaptability Intelligence is born.
Remember that the ability to unlearn is just as important as the propensity to learn and adopt new behaviors. Sometimes, building resilience and adaptability means letting go of assumptions and behaviors that aren’t serving you or the organization well.
To learn more about the role of resilience in Adaptability Intelligence, contact us today to get started with an AQai Adaptability Assessment.