Hanging Tough
The resilient organization takes adversity in stride
When I tell people that I was born and raised in Lima, Ohio, the news is usually greeted with a yawn and moment of uneasy silence. But I don’t take it personally. Aside from getting the pronunciation right — it’s pronounced with a long “i” like the bean, not a long “e” like the South American city — there isn’t a lot a person can say about Lima.
Unless, of course, you’re talking to a railroad buff. For rail enthusiasts, my hometown is the stuff of which legends are made — a latter day Cibola, perhaps, or a gritty, iron-age Brigadoon. Through the first half of the 20th century, you see, Lima was the home of the storied Lima Locomotive Works, an industrial juggernaut that produced steam locomotives known throughout the world for their power, performance, and reliability.
Those were good times for Lima, I’ve been told. But by the time I was old enough to hear the stories, the locomotive works were little more than hulking ruins on the south side of town. The owners had seen little future in diesel-electric locomotion. So they chose to ignore it. The ruins that loomed so vividly over my childhood were the legacy of that decision.
The managers at Lima Locomotive Works weren’t the first business executives to be blindsided by the unexpected. And they probably won’t be the last. This doesn’t have to be the case, however. When the recently rechristened Apple Inc. finally came to terms with its declining fortunes as a manufacturer of personal computers, the company shrewdly took advantage of emerging market trends and transformed itself into a digital-media powerhouse. Confronted with a new technology, a dramatic shift in consumer preferences, or even the proverbial act of God, a resilient organization takes the unexpected in stride.
“These are the organizations that adapt and can recover when they hit a bump in the road,” says Gary Neilson, a senior vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton. “They’re flexible, adaptable, and they have an organizational model that is both connected and integrated. The left hand knows what the right hand is doing. These organizations can deal with adversity. But more broadly, they execute well. They get things done.”
Resilience is a quality that can — and should — be cultivated at both the individual and the organizational level. Michael Useem, director of the Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management at the University of Pennsylvania, believes that the best leaders have an ability to bounce back from setbacks and remain focused on the decisions that lie ahead. Part of this is a matter of personality, and it is something that should be factored into hiring decisions and performance evaluations. But effective organizations also strive to create an environment in which individual resilience is nurtured.
“What is vital for that sense of personal resilience is having a really strong group of people around you, working with you and in support of what you’re doing,” says Useem. “If you’re part of a very strong team, if the team is tight and has great camaraderie, and people have learned to rely on each other, [there’s less danger of] succumbing to trying circumstances.”
This type of culture promotes resilient leadership at the top, to be sure, but it also creates a leadership mentality that permeates the organization. And that pays big dividends during crises, when there is seldom time to wait for decisions to work their way through the normal chain of command.
“A lot of it is about leading by example, with management understanding what kind of decisions can be relegated down through the company,” says Yossi Sheffi, author of The Resilient Enterprise: Overcoming Vulnerability for Competitive Advantage (MIT Press, 2005). “Don’t tell employees that they have to create the financial plan for next year — not every worker has the knowledge to do that. But with operational decisions, when employees see a problem developing, make sure they take action. It’s a long and difficult process that requires building trust and never swaying away from it, never losing heart even when people make mistakes.”
Resilience and flexibility are not necessarily synonymous, but Sheffi and Neilson both believe that flexibility is an essential trait in a resilient organization. And two keys to promoting flexibility are a willingness to listen to diverse points of view — especially when the critics and complainers have something on their minds — coupled with an emphasis on thinking “horizontally.”
“Set up horizontal, or cross-functional, teams,” advises Neilson. “And consider things like lateral promotions. In lateral moves people get a good understanding of the organization. When they’re making decisions they have a perspective from multiple areas, so you have less of a silo effect. You have a much better understanding of the organization.”
Had the managers at Lima Locomotive Works been a bit more resilient, my hometown might be something more than a footnote in railroad history. Don’t let your organization suffer a similar fate.
— Dayton Fandray
(Read@Work)
Results Focus
Gary Neilson and co-author Bruce A. Pasternack bring another perspective to the table in their book, Results (Crown Business, 2005). Chapter 9, “The Resilient Organization: As Good As It Gets,” sets out the 10 traits of resilient organizations and should be required reading for all managers and executives.
In his book Risk Intelligence: Learning to Manage What We Don’t Know (Harvard Business School Press, 2006), David Apgar provides a rigorous framework for assessing and coping with the unknowns that can wreak havoc on even our best-laid plans. It is difficult reading at times, but well worth the effort.
When it comes to building personal resilience, I have long been a fan of Paul G. Stoltz’s work. His recent book, The Adversity Advantage: Turning Everyday Struggles into Everyday Greatness (Fireside, 2007), is a useful meditation for everyone who understands that resilient organizations are made up of resilient individuals.
— D.F.
