Stop Trying To Be Resilient
Is it healthy to aim for resilience?
In Never Stop Learning this week I will be covering the following 1-2-3:
One Big Thing - What do we actually mean by resilience?
Two Recommendations
A video to help you live your best life
A new substack I recently discovered covering everything mental health related
My Top 3 articles of the week
One Big Thing: Resilience
The term "resilience" gets thrown around a lot these days, especially as individuals and organizations navigate the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
“We need to be more resilient”
“Our teams need to be more resilient”
“We should look to build our personal resilience to help us deal with todays world”
What do we actually mean by “resilience”?
Does it mean your ability to keep going despite everything? mmm, that feels rather dangerous and unhealthy.
Does it mean your organisation’s ability to keep going despite everything? That feels a little better. So we need to be careful with our definitions here and the approach we take when we say we “need to build resilience in our team”.
It's important to recognize that resilience manifests differently at the personal and organisational levels. Confusing the two can have serious implications for mental well-being and operational efficiency.
In this blog post, we'll explore the differences between Personal Resilience and Organisational Resilience, the dangers of conflating them, and actionable steps to enhance each.
Personal Resilience: More Than Just "Toughing It Out"
Personal Resilience refers to an individual's ability to manage their mental well-being through healthy habits and coping mechanisms.
It involves developing strategies that enable you to face challenges head-on while ensuring that your mental and physical health aren't compromised. So its about being aware of where you are, how much you can absorb and staying within the limits of what you can personally handle at a given time.
This will be different for everyone.
The Dangers of Misinterpretation
Misunderstanding the concept of personal resilience can be detrimental. Some people interpret resilience as the need to keep pushing through obstacles, no matter the cost to their mental health.
This misconception can lead to burnout and other serious health issues, as the individual may ignore the body's signals to slow down or stop.
Actionable Steps for Personal Resilience
To nurture your personal resilience there are things you can do. These actions would be very different if you were considering organisational resilience. Consider the following:
Regular Rest: Make time for breaks and take leave when you can.
Sleep: Prioritise getting enough restful sleep.
Interests Outside of Work: Cultivate hobbies and activities that bring you joy.
Health and Nutrition: Make healthy eating and exercise a part of your routine.
Energy Management: Understand what rejuvenates you and what drains you, and plan accordingly.
Organisational Resilience: A Collective Endeavor
Organisational Resilience, on the other hand, pertains to the collective ability of a team or organisation to adapt and continue delivering results, irrespective of external challenges.
A Holistic Approach
A resilient organisation does not rely solely on the individual resilience of its team members.
Instead, it establishes processes and a culture that help maintain operations, even if an employee needs to take time off for personal reasons. The organization should have contingency plans that include cross skilling and flexible resource allocation.
By building a culture where team members are able to shift across and cover for important tasks you immediately have an organisation that is more resilience while allowing an employee to recover.
Actionable Steps for Organizational Resilience
To build organisational resilience, you should be considering:
Cross Skilling: Ensure that no single person is the linchpin for critical operations.
Team Flexibility: Equip team members to cover for each other in case someone is unavailable.
Supportive Culture: Create an environment where individuals feel supported, both personally and professionally.
Clear Prioritisation: Have guidelines for prioritising tasks when it’s impossible to maintain every workstream.
Unified Vision: Establish a clear organisational vision and purpose that guides all priorities and actions.
Recognising the difference
It's crucial to recognise that Personal Resilience and Organisational Resilience are two distinct types of resilience, each requiring a different set of strategies for improvement. While personal resilience emphasises individual well-being and self-care, organizational resilience focuses on creating robust systems and a supportive culture.
By understanding the nuances of these two types of resilience, we can better equip ourselves and our organizations to navigate the complexities of modern life, without sacrificing well-being or efficiency.
Your teams AND your shareholders will thank you.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the discussion below.
Two Recommendations - what to consume this week
8 Stoic Don’ts For A Better Life
Another gem from Ryan Holiday that we should pay attention to.
- by
Brilliant posts that will help you look after your mental health. Wendi covers a range of topics from the impact of spiritual beliefs on mental health to the benefits of visualisation. Her recent post What The Barbie Movie Gets Right About Mental Health dives into some of the unrealistic demands society places on women.
Top 3 articles of the week
Finding great articles on Substack can be difficult. Fear not, I have been digging deep into the discovery areas of the platform so you don’t have to.
Here are my top three posts to read this week:
ofOur microbiome is disappearing by
ofPoof! Work's Disappearing Act is a Cheap Trick by
ofLast week’s post
In case you missed it:
To get more posts like this each week please hit subscribe below.
Other Substack Recommendations
A big part of this newsletter is the community we are building. One of the ways we do this is through recommendations and building links between Substacks that share our values. Never Stop Learning recommends these Substacks that I suggest you check out.
It’s easy to get a FREE upgrade to PAID in our referral scheme
There is of course another way to upgrade to a Paid Subscription to Never Stop Learning and help the community grow at the same time.
You can help spread the word.
As an introductory offer, you only need ONE referral to gain a month’s access to the paid section of Never Stop Learning which includes all the Substack Strategy posts!
A Paid Subscription will give you access to posts such as:
Personal resilience is not about pushing through at any cost but rather about maintaining mental and physical well-being while facing challenges. Recognising our limits and knowing when to pause or ask for support is an integral part of personal resilience.
Thanks for the shoutout Martin! To answer your question, I do think resilience involves the capacity to keep going, however, that shouldn't be the be-all, end-all. There is something to be said for continuing to show up, but of course, what comes next is also important. (And so is maintaining our well-being as you said.)
To me, a key component of resilience is the ability to learn and adjust. The ability to keep tinkering, keep trying new things, accepting that failures and setbacks are a part of the process. I feel like I am at my most resilient when I have a purpose, which helps me endure, but also a growth mindset, which enables me to see obstacles as opportunities.
Of course, this doens't happen overnight. It took me many years to get to that point. (Which is why I write in the first place, so people can get to that point much sooner!)