What is Organizational Human Resilience?

The curious thing is that even the experts can't agree.

Oxford Dictionary: Resilience (noun) - the ability of people or things to recover quickly after something unpleasant, such as shock, injury, etc.

Merriam-Webster: Resilience (noun) - an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

Cambridge Dictionary: Resilience (noun) - the ability to be happy, successful etc. again after something difficult or bad has happened.

Collins Dictionary: Resilience (noun) - the ability of an ecosystem to return to its original state after being disturbed.

Macmillan Dictionary: Resilience (noun) - someone’s ability to become healthy, happy, or strong again after an illness, disappointment, or other problem.

Dictionary.com: Resilience (noun) - the ability of a person to adjust to or recover readily from illness, adversity, major life changes, etc.

The human race has often been called resilient. But we didn't just adjust or recover from adversity, returning to our original state. We've thrived! For me, the word thrive is the missing link when it comes to Resilience.

My Definition of Resilience:

A person's ability to not just survive,

but thrive.

Over the centuries, humans have not only survived adversity, they have learned how to thrive. But if you look up any dictionary definition of resilience, it describes resilience as a person's ability to recover after adversity and return to one's original form. The example often given is bouncing back from adversity, much "like a rubber band".

Recover or Thrive. Is there a difference? You know the difference. Do you want your leaders and teams members to recover from adversity or thrive? Do you want your kids to recover from life's adversities or thrive? Human Resilience is not just surviving, it's thriving.

Organizational Human Resilience appears to be a new term on the business landscape and almost everyone has their own definition of what it is. But there is one thing everyone can agree on. No company wants their employees to merely survive, they all want to learn how to thrive.

Human Resilience Goes Mainstream

According to a 2020 research study from Accenture, Human Resilience is made up of 3 components and the glue that holds them all together is TRUST.

Hierarchy of Human Resilience

One could argue that there is a fourth component which is Financial needs. Unlike Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, which this diagram is modeled after, a better representation is that of a puzzle and each of these four components of resilience make up the four corner pieces of your own unique resilience puzzle.

Let's start with Physical Resilience because if your heart stops beating, you are dead and nothing else matters. Mental Resilience is the next most important piece because it drives how you think and how you communicate to yourself and to others. Personal Resilience is all about whether you have a Fixed or Growth Mindset. Finally, Financial Resilience is about your security as you look and plan for the future.

There are hundreds of puzzle pieces that make up your own unique resilience puzzle, and just like a snowflake, no two are the same. Frustrating right? Well, not if you understand one business truth, which is that the only way you can scale a business or an idea is with a duplicative process. This is how teenagers run a global food enterprise called McDonald's.

There are 7 Duplicative Processes that drive Organizational Human Resilience, and we will likely discover more if we remain curious about constant improvement.

1. Resilience Puzzle Process
2. Traffic Light Process
3. VIP Process
4. Agile Change Management Process
5. Process of Self-Motivation
6. Process of Habit Building
7. Process of Cultural Change

Which one of these 7 Duplicative Processes do you currently use? Which would you like to discuss further in the comments?

3 Jobs in Human Resilience:

Director of Employee Communication & Engagement

Employee Experience Lead Vice President

Resilience Instructor - Mental Health Professional