1. Roads to Resilience?!

2. time What – Focus? uncertainty Prediction and Control
‘It is like standing on quicksand’
Prediction and Control
Planning
Procedures, rules,
process
time
Monitoring
‘No one seems to be on the same page’
Awareness
Anticipation and Readiness
Interpret
Prepare
Act
variations
Improvisation
incubation period
Fire Fighting
known unknowns
Recovery
Crisis Management
Investigation
unknown unknowns
Change
Learning
event
investigation
issue
‘You can not see the forest for the trees’
crisis
turning point
learning
‘No one has ever done this before’

3. Collective Mindfulness
Reluctance to simplify
Sensitivity to operations
Commitment to resilience
Deference to expertise
Preoccupation with Failure

4. Collective Mindfulness
Reluctance to simplify
Sensitivity to operations
Commitment to resilience
Deference to expertise
Preoccupation with Failure
Encourage the reporting of errors and pay attention to any failures. These lapses may signal possible weakness in other parts of the organisation. Too often, success narrows perceptions, breeds overconfidence in current practices and squelches opposing viewpoints. This leads to complacency that in turn increases the likelihood unexpected events will go undetected and snowball into bigger problems.

5. Preoccupation with Failure
We actively look for failures of all sizes and try to understand them.
People feel free to talk to superiors about problems.
People report significant mistakes even if others do not notice that a mistake is made.
When something unexpected occurs, we always try to figure out why our expectations were not met.
People are rewarded if they spot potential trouble spots.

6. Collective Mindfulness
Reluctance to simplify
Sensitivity to operations
Commitment to resilience
Deference to expertise
Preoccupation with Failure
Analyse each occurrence through fresh eyes and take nothing for granted. Take a more complex view of matters and look for disconfirming evidence that foreshadows unexpected problems. Seek input from diverse sources, study minute details, discuss confusing events and listen intently. Avoid lumping details together or attempting to normalise an unexpected event in order to preserve a preconceived expectation.

7. Reluctance to simplify
People around here take nothing for granted.
Sceptics are highly valued.
Questioning is encouraged.
People show considerable respect for one another.
People listen carefully, and it is rare that someone’s view goes unheard.

8. Collective Mindfulness
Reluctance to simplify
Sensitivity to operations
Commitment to resilience
Deference to expertise
Preoccupation with Failure
Pay serious attention to minute-to-minute operations and be aware of imperfections in these activities. Strive to make on-going assessments and continual updates. Enlist everyone’s help in fine-tuning the workings of the organisation.

9. Sensitivity to operations
On a day-to-day basis, there is always someone who is paying attention to what is happening.
Managers constantly monitor workloads and reduce them when they become excessive.
People are familiar with operations beyond their own job.
During an average day, people interact often enough to build a clear picture of the current situation.

10. Collective Mindfulness
Reluctance to simplify
Sensitivity to operations
Commitment to resilience
Deference to expertise
Preoccupation with Failure
Cultivate the processes of resilience, intelligent reaction and improvisation. Build excess capability by rotating positions, creating additional sources of knowledge and adding new skills. Be mindful of errors that have occurred and take steps to correct them before they worsen. Once the fix is made, make every effort to return to a state of preparedness as quickly as possible. Be ready to handle the next unforeseen event.

11. Commitment to resilience
People have more than enough training and experience for the kind of work they do.
This organisation encourages challenging “stretch” assignments.
Most people have the skills to act on the unexpected problems that arise.
There is a concern with building people’s competence and response repertoires.

12. Collective Mindfulness
Reluctance to simplify
Sensitivity to operations
Commitment to resilience
Deference to expertise
Preoccupation with Failure
During troubled times, shift the leadership role to the person or team possessing the greatest expertise and experience to deal with the problem at hand. Provide them with the empowerment they need to take timely, effective action. Avoid using rank and status as the sole basis for determining who makes decisions when unexpected events occur.

13. Deference to expertise
It is generally easy to obtain expert assistance when something comes up that we don’t know how to handle.
In this organisation, the people most qualified to make decisions make them.
People typically “own” a problem until it is resolved.
If something out of the ordinary happens, people know who has the expertise to respond.

14. Roads to Resilience?!