MOST Analysis

Mission Statement

In some ways, the messaging around the need to be more resilient has forced people into carrying more stress and experiencing more burnout. The more you force yourself to be resilient, the more likely it is that your work/life balance will be out of kilter as well. Sure, an ability to be resilient is a good thing and a great skill to have in your kitbag, but when your whole focus is on constantly building more resilience so that you can stay upright, it’s time to stop and take a look at what you really need to focus on in your life. This module focuses on pulling back the curtains on resilience so you can understand what resilience really is, how much of it you actually need and then shows you how to create the simple things you can do every day to seamlessly blend your work and your life without constantly being under pressure.

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Objectives

01. What is Resilience: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
02. History of Resilience: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
03. Resilient Businesses: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
04. Resilient People: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
05. Cognitive Resilience: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
06. Physical Resilience: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
07. Emotional Resilience: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. 1 Month
08. Psychological Resilience: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
09. Social Resilience: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
10. Concepts of Resilience: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
11. Resilience Scales: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
12. Models of Resilience: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month

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Strategies

01. What is Resilience: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
02. History of Resilience: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
03. Resilient Businesses: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
04. Resilient People: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
05. Cognitive Resilience: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
06. Physical Resilience: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
07. Emotional Resilience: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
08. Psychological Resilience: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
09. Social Resilience: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
10. Concepts of Resilience: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
11. Resilience Scales: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
12. Models of Resilience: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.

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Tasks

01. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyse What is Resilience.
02. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyse History of Resilience.
03. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyse Resilient Businesses.
04. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyse Resilient People.
05. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Cognitive Resilience.
06. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyse Physical Resilience.
07. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyse Emotional Resilience.
08. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyse Psychological Resilience.
09. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Social Resilience.
10. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyse Concepts of Resilience.
11. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyse Resilience Scales.
12. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyse Models of Resilience.

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Introduction

The sixth workshop in the Simplified Wellness Program – Resilience – takes you on a deep dive into the topic of resilience so you can better understand what it truly is and the ways you can develop and use it to improve your experience of life.

Resilience is the process and result of overcoming difficult or demanding life situations, particularly through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adaptation to internal and external challenges.

How well people adapt to adversity depends on a number of elements, the most important of which are:

• the perspectives and interactions that people have with the world;

• the quantity and caliber of social resources; and

• particular coping mechanisms

Psychological studies have shown that the resources and abilities linked to more positive adaptation – that is, more resilience – aren’t necessarily inherited, but rather can be developed and practiced.

This module takes you on a deep dive into the topic of resilience so you can better understand what it truly is and the ways you can develop and use it to improve your experience of life.

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History

Resilience first appeared as a concept in the early 17th Century, where it was developed from the Latin verb ‘resilire’ which itself gained a meaning in the English language of rebound or recoil.

The term resilience doesn’t seem to appear in any documented works until it was introduced into literature written by Thomas Tredgold in 1818, when he used the term to describe the strength of beams of timber.

In 1856, Robert Mallett then further developed the concept of resilience by applying it as a measurement in relation to the ability of particular materials to tolerate particular shocks.

Thus, resilience was first seen as a form of measurement used in engineering and construction-focused endeavors.

In the 20th Century, resilience started to be used as a measurement in new fields. Researchers started to apply resilience measures in relation to child psychology and being exposed to particular threats in the 1970s. In this application, people were assessed for their ability to recover from adversity. Those who showed a higher aptitude for being able to recover were then said to be ‘resilient’. Professor Sir Michael Rutter was one of the many researchers who was interested in a variety of risk encounters and their corresponding results.

In 1973, C.S. Holling then began to apply resilience theory through the lens of ecology, which in turn shaped his work, Resilience and Stability of Ecological Systems. During this time, ecological resilience became known as a measure of the persistence of systems and of their ability to absorb change and disturbance and still maintain the same relationships between state variables.

Holling discovered that a similar framework may be used to describe various types of resilience. Later, further personal, cultural, and societal applications were drawn in using the ecosystems application.

Within the ecological system, instability to neutral systems might result from the effects of fires, changes in the forest community, or the process of fishing, in addition to the climatic events mentioned by Holling. Contrarily, stability is the capacity of a system to resume its equilibrium condition following a brief perturbation.

Ecological and social resilience, in contrast to material and mechanical resilience, emphasize the redundancy and durability of several equilibrium states to preserve function.

From this research, and the application to other personal, cultural and societal fields, the most common definition of resilience emerged and was accepted as being the successful adaptation in the face of difficulty.

Since this time, resilience research has gone through a number of stages. Psychologists started to realize that a lot of what seems to foster resilience comes from outside of the individual, after initially focusing on the ‘unflappable’ or ‘unbeatable’ child.

The quest for resilience-building elements at the individual, family, community, cultural and, more recently, at the organizational levels, resulted from this realization.

There is growing interest in resilience as a quality shared by entire organizations, communities and cultural groupings, in addition to the influences that community and culture have on resilience in individuals. The idea that resilience is a process has benefited from the discovery by modern researchers that resilience components vary in various risk scenarios.

In order to support relative resistance, researchers are also interested in how certain protective factors interact with risk factors and other protective factors. Two further ideas are resilient reintegration, which holds that overcoming hardship propels people to a higher level of development, and the idea that resilience is an intrinsic talent that just needs to be properly awakened.

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Current Position

Building resilience in organizations, and in the individuals within the organizations, is rightly earning its place as an important focal point for organization boards around the world.

Over the last few decades, organizations have started to attempt adoption of resilient practices and embed programs that assist in creating resilience in their people. However, on the whole the resilience industry has provided services at either the low-cost, generic end or at the high-cost, personalized solution end of the market.

As a relatively new concept, resilience as a topic has not been well understood within organizations, and therefore expertise relating to resilience has to be brought into the organization from external providers. With barriers to entry into most industries falling thanks to technological advances, there are more participants competing for the same buyers in a marketplace.

Technology has also provided pathways to producing and supplying products and services at lower cost than ever before. All of that combined has left most organizations with limited expenditure available to focus on health and wellbeing activities, and therefore believing that they are stuck having to access the low cost, generic solutions available in the marketplace.

The key issue with this approach is that a generic solution doesn’t provide answers for the unique needs of each individual within an organization. So, instead of shoring up the resilience of its people, an organization finds itself stuck in a cycle of survival and not being able to move forwards.

Therefore, organizations’ resilience levels tend to remain stagnant, or worsen as stress levels rise and higher levels of resilience are needed to be able to cope with the demands of the situation.

In a world that is continually changing, the viability and sustainability of organizations are still being put to the test. Many firms have come to the realization that conventional corporate strategies do not adequately shield them against unforeseen catastrophes. Organizations must be able to absorb a change-requiring event, adapt, and keep their competitive advantage and profitability.

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Future Outlook

Until recently, organizations tended to approach challenging events and situations in a set way. They would either:

• accept that events are too challenging and will therefore cause the organization to cease operating;

• find themselves in a challenging situation and do what they have to do in order to survive (including existing in a reduced form if that is what is required);

• move to a reduced form initially, and then plan to rebound back to the pre-challenge status as quickly as possible; or

• use the challenge and adversity to create a pathway that enables it to move forward in leaps and bounds.

With multiple threats faced concurrently by organizations globally, the need for resilience within organizations, and in the individuals within those organizations, has never been greater.

The resilience industry will need to morph and expand its focus once again, and focus on the niche requirements within organizations. Topics such as cyber, community, digital mindset and infrastructure and accelerated AI innovation will all need resilience models built around them.

Individuals will need to build resilience levels to deal with the demands that changes in these niches will bring. Furthermore, organizations will need to ensure that their overall resilience models can make sure that they are playing in the ‘bounce forward’ environment, so that they can achieve excellent outcomes over the long-term.

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Executive Summary

The sixth workshop in the Simplified Wellness Program – Resilience – takes you on a deep dive into the topic of resilience so you can better understand what it truly is and the ways you can develop and use it to improve your experience of life.

Resilience is the process and result of overcoming difficult or demanding life situations, particularly through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adaptation to internal and external challenges.

How well people adapt to adversity depends on a number of elements, the most important of which are:

• the perspectives and interactions that people have with the world;

• the quantity and caliber of social resources; and

• particular coping mechanisms

Psychological studies have shown that the resources and abilities linked to more positive adaptation – that is, more resilience – aren’t necessarily inherited, but rather can be developed and practiced.

This module takes you on a deep dive into the topic of resilience so you can better understand what it truly is and the ways you can develop and use it to improve your experience of life.

This workshop has 12 focus areas. Here’s what they cover:

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Chapter 1: What is Resilience?

Resilience has become something of a buzzword in recent times, with it being touted as a solution to many of the stress, exhaustion and burnout issues that individuals around the globe are facing in growing numbers.

But resilience is so much more than the watered-down message that is being provided around the world. There are many facets to this topic that are well worth understanding so that real solutions can be built to help individuals and organizations deal with the issues they are facing.

In this focus area you will look at what resilience is and why it is important to have it.

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Chapter 2: History of Resilience

To most people, resilience is a relatively new term that has come to the forefront through the ‘resilience training’ industry that has grown around the stress, exhaustion and burnout issues being experienced by organizations around the world.

Resilience itself has a history that stems back to the 19th Century and has morphed from being used in materials and science to its current application as a concept for comprehending how society might react to challenges threatening individuals, communities, organizations, and nations more effectively.

In this focus area you will look at where resilience came from and how it has developed over time.

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Chapter 3: Resilient Businesses

The level of change and business risk in the world is unprecedented in recent generations. While some businesses stagnate and fail, others evolve, develop, and even succeed. Resilience is the difference.

Today’s corporate climate is becoming more dynamic and unpredictable, making resilience more crucial.

This is due to a number of enduring pressures that are straining and stretching business systems, including increased global economic interconnection, quicker technological advancement, and more general challenges like rising inequality, species extinction, and climate change.

In this focus area you will look at what a resilient business looks like and what characteristics they have in common with each other.

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Chapter 4: Resilient People

How does someone become resilient? Resilient behavior can be influenced by a variety of variables, such as personality traits, upbringing, genetics, environmental conditions, and social support.

Learning about the traits of resilient people, and when and how to ask for assistance in developing resilience, makes sense if you want to know more about becoming more resilient.

A resilient individual typically possesses awareness, self-control, problem-solving abilities, and social support. People that are resilient are conscious of their surroundings, their feelings, and the actions of those around them.

This focus area looks at what the traits and qualities of resilient people look like and what makes some people more resilient than others.

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Chapter 5: Cognitive Resilience

Researchers say that building cognitive resilience, can help you maintain the mental agility and memory retention of someone who is decades younger.

In addition, research has shown that even people with severe brain changes (such as people suffering from diseases such as Alzheimer’s) can delay cognitive decline by building up cognitive resilience.

Ultimately, deliberately developing cognitive resilience allows our brain to develop a capacity to withstand, prevent or recover from illness, trauma and hardship more easily, and with today’s way of life that is a powerful ally to have in your tool kit.

In this focus area you’ll learn more about what cognitive resilience is, how it is useful and how you build more of it in your life.

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Chapter 6: Physical Resilience

Physical resilience is the ability of the body to respond to new challenges, maintain strength and endurance under pressure, and recover quickly and effectively after acute injury or microbial invasion.

But it is made more difficult by a wide range of cultural and environmental factors, chief among which is how distant we have become from our own bodies.

In this focus area you’ll look at what physical resilience is, the impact on organizations when you get it wrong and the ways that sleep and stress impact it.

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Chapter 7: Emotional Resilience

When you can control your agitated thoughts after having a bad event, you have emotional resilience. It is the innate motivation, a power within us, that enables us to endure all of life’s challenges.

Emotional resilience is a feature that exists from birth and keeps growing throughout life, just like other facets of our identity like social intelligence and emotional intelligence.

In this area you’ll explore the role of emotional resilience and what low levels of emotional resilience in individuals looks like.

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Chapter 8: Psychological Resilience

Psychological resilience is the capacity to quickly recover from a crisis, or deal with it intellectually and emotionally.

An individual’s level of resilience is influenced by a variety of variables.

Personal traits like self-esteem, self-control, and a good view of life are examples of internal variables. Social support networks, such as those with family, friends, and the community, as well as access to resources and opportunities, are examples of external variables.

In this focus area you’ll explore what social resilience is, its importance in life and the ways that it can be built within individuals and communities.

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Chapter 9: Social Resilience

Social resilience is the ability of social groupings and communities to react positively to and/or bounce back from setbacks or crises as they occur.

Disasters are now experienced by the general population in ways that have never been seen before. When community resilience is strong, the collective works together in a more cohesive way which makes it easier for an organization to weather the storm that comes with significant challenges.

In this focus area you’ll look explore what social resilience is, its importance in life and ways that it can be built within individuals and communities.

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Chapter 10: Concepts of Resilience

Numerous resilience experts say that the cornerstone of resilience is made up of six fundamental abilities or competencies: self-awareness, self-control, optimism, mental agility, qualities of character and connection.

These competencies have the power to enrich one’s life, deepen relationships with others, and really just widen the scope of their universe and help them discover more meaning and purpose.

The six concepts of resilience is based on the principle that even those who lack resiliency naturally can develop the necessary abilities to develop it within themselves.

In this focus area you’ll look at the six concepts of resilience and as well as the four dimensions that individuals need to build personal resilience.

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Chapter 11: Resilience Scales

Depending on who you ask, resilience is defined differently.

Psychology experts may have one (or several) definitions, while individuals who interact closely with people who are struggling frequently have a different perspective.

Because every individual is unique, it is easy to see that there would need to be numerous approaches to defining and measuring resilience when considering the numerous distinct components that make up the resilience machine. Resilience has been described in a practically infinite number of ways, and therefore there a number of different scales that have been developed to help measure resilience levels within individuals, organizations and communities.

In this focus area you will look at the way that eight different scales can be used to measure resilience levels in individuals, communities and organizations.

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Chapter 12: Models of Resilience

Life is not always ideal. Even though we would all like for things to ‘just go our way’ all of the time, challenges are unavoidable and must be faced by everyone.

According to resilience theory, how we respond to adversity, rather than its actual characteristics, is what matters most. Resilience not only aids in our ability to endure, bounce back from, and even flourish after adversity, but is also aids us in overcoming hardship, bad luck, or irritation.

In this focus area you’ll understand the models of resilience and the way that resilience theory is defined.

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Curriculum

Simplified Wellness– Workshop 6 – Resilience & Work-Life Balance

1. What is Resilience
2. History of Resilience
3. Resilient Businesses
4. Resilient People
5. Cognitive Resilience
6. Physical Resilience
7. Emotional Resilience
8. Psychological Resilience
9. Social Resilience
10. Concepts of Resilience
11. Resilience Scales
12. Models of Resilience

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Distance Learning

Introduction

Welcome to Appleton Greene and thank you for enrolling on the Simplified Wellness corporate training program. You will be learning through our unique facilitation via distance-learning method, which will enable you to practically implement everything that you learn academically. The methods and materials used in your program have been designed and developed to ensure that you derive the maximum benefits and enjoyment possible. We hope that you find the program challenging and fun to do. However, if you have never been a distance-learner before, you may be experiencing some trepidation at the task before you. So we will get you started by giving you some basic information and guidance on how you can make the best use of the modules, how you should manage the materials and what you should be doing as you work through them. This guide is designed to point you in the right direction and help you to become an effective distance-learner. Take a few hours or so to study this guide and your guide to tutorial support for students, while making notes, before you start to study in earnest.

Study environment

You will need to locate a quiet and private place to study, preferably a room where you can easily be isolated from external disturbances or distractions. Make sure the room is well-lit and incorporates a relaxed, pleasant feel. If you can spoil yourself within your study environment, you will have much more of a chance to ensure that you are always in the right frame of mind when you do devote time to study. For example, a nice fire, the ability to play soft soothing background music, soft but effective lighting, perhaps a nice view if possible and a good size desk with a comfortable chair. Make sure that your family know when you are studying and understand your study rules. Your study environment is very important. The ideal situation, if at all possible, is to have a separate study, which can be devoted to you. If this is not possible then you will need to pay a lot more attention to developing and managing your study schedule, because it will affect other people as well as yourself. The better your study environment, the more productive you will be.

Study tools & rules

Try and make sure that your study tools are sufficient and in good working order. You will need to have access to a computer, scanner and printer, with access to the internet. You will need a very comfortable chair, which supports your lower back, and you will need a good filing system. It can be very frustrating if you are spending valuable study time trying to fix study tools that are unreliable, or unsuitable for the task. Make sure that your study tools are up to date. You will also need to consider some study rules. Some of these rules will apply to you and will be intended to help you to be more disciplined about when and how you study. This distance-learning guide will help you and after you have read it you can put some thought into what your study rules should be. You will also need to negotiate some study rules for your family, friends or anyone who lives with you. They too will need to be disciplined in order to ensure that they can support you while you study. It is important to ensure that your family and friends are an integral part of your study team. Having their support and encouragement can prove to be a crucial contribution to your successful completion of the program. Involve them in as much as you can.

Successful distance-learning

Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes or workshops, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. But unlike traditional internal training courses, it is the student’s responsibility, with a distance-learning program, to ensure that they manage their own study contribution. This requires strong self-discipline and self-motivation skills and there must be a clear will to succeed. Those students who are used to managing themselves, are good at managing others and who enjoy working in isolation, are more likely to be good distance-learners. It is also important to be aware of the main reasons why you are studying and of the main objectives that you are hoping to achieve as a result. You will need to remind yourself of these objectives at times when you need to motivate yourself. Never lose sight of your long-term goals and your short-term objectives. There is nobody available here to pamper you, or to look after you, or to spoon-feed you with information, so you will need to find ways to encourage and appreciate yourself while you are studying. Make sure that you chart your study progress, so that you can be sure of your achievements and re-evaluate your goals and objectives regularly.

Self-assessment

Appleton Greene training programs are in all cases post-graduate programs. Consequently, you should already have obtained a business-related degree and be an experienced learner. You should therefore already be aware of your study strengths and weaknesses. For example, which time of the day are you at your most productive? Are you a lark or an owl? What study methods do you respond to the most? Are you a consistent learner? How do you discipline yourself? How do you ensure that you enjoy yourself while studying? It is important to understand yourself as a learner and so some self-assessment early on will be necessary if you are to apply yourself correctly. Perform a SWOT analysis on yourself as a student. List your internal strengths and weaknesses as a student and your external opportunities and threats. This will help you later on when you are creating a study plan. You can then incorporate features within your study plan that can ensure that you are playing to your strengths, while compensating for your weaknesses. You can also ensure that you make the most of your opportunities, while avoiding the potential threats to your success.

Accepting responsibility as a student

Training programs invariably require a significant investment, both in terms of what they cost and in the time that you need to contribute to study and the responsibility for successful completion of training programs rests entirely with the student. This is never more apparent than when a student is learning via distance-learning. Accepting responsibility as a student is an important step towards ensuring that you can successfully complete your training program. It is easy to instantly blame other people or factors when things go wrong. But the fact of the matter is that if a failure is your failure, then you have the power to do something about it, it is entirely in your own hands. If it is always someone else’s failure, then you are powerless to do anything about it. All students study in entirely different ways, this is because we are all individuals and what is right for one student, is not necessarily right for another. In order to succeed, you will have to accept personal responsibility for finding a way to plan, implement and manage a personal study plan that works for you. If you do not succeed, you only have yourself to blame.

Planning

By far the most critical contribution to stress, is the feeling of not being in control. In the absence of planning we tend to be reactive and can stumble from pillar to post in the hope that things will turn out fine in the end. Invariably they don’t! In order to be in control, we need to have firm ideas about how and when we want to do things. We also need to consider as many possible eventualities as we can, so that we are prepared for them when they happen. Prescriptive Change, is far easier to manage and control, than Emergent Change. The same is true with distance-learning. It is much easier and much more enjoyable, if you feel that you are in control and that things are going to plan. Even when things do go wrong, you are prepared for them and can act accordingly without any unnecessary stress. It is important therefore that you do take time to plan your studies properly.

Management

Once you have developed a clear study plan, it is of equal importance to ensure that you manage the implementation of it. Most of us usually enjoy planning, but it is usually during implementation when things go wrong. Targets are not met and we do not understand why. Sometimes we do not even know if targets are being met. It is not enough for us to conclude that the study plan just failed. If it is failing, you will need to understand what you can do about it. Similarly if your study plan is succeeding, it is still important to understand why, so that you can improve upon your success. You therefore need to have guidelines for self-assessment so that you can be consistent with performance improvement throughout the program. If you manage things correctly, then your performance should constantly improve throughout the program.

Study objectives & tasks

The first place to start is developing your program objectives. These should feature your reasons for undertaking the training program in order of priority. Keep them succinct and to the point in order to avoid confusion. Do not just write the first things that come into your head because they are likely to be too similar to each other. Make a list of possible departmental headings, such as: Customer Service; E-business; Finance; Globalization; Human Resources; Technology; Legal; Management; Marketing and Production. Then brainstorm for ideas by listing as many things that you want to achieve under each heading and later re-arrange these things in order of priority. Finally, select the top item from each department heading and choose these as your program objectives. Try and restrict yourself to five because it will enable you to focus clearly. It is likely that the other things that you listed will be achieved if each of the top objectives are achieved. If this does not prove to be the case, then simply work through the process again.

Study forecast

As a guide, the Appleton Greene Simplified Wellness corporate training program should take 12-18 months to complete, depending upon your availability and current commitments. The reason why there is such a variance in time estimates is because every student is an individual, with differing productivity levels and different commitments. These differentiations are then exaggerated by the fact that this is a distance-learning program, which incorporates the practical integration of academic theory as an as a part of the training program. Consequently all of the project studies are real, which means that important decisions and compromises need to be made. You will want to get things right and will need to be patient with your expectations in order to ensure that they are. We would always recommend that you are prudent with your own task and time forecasts, but you still need to develop them and have a clear indication of what are realistic expectations in your case. With reference to your time planning: consider the time that you can realistically dedicate towards study with the program every week; calculate how long it should take you to complete the program, using the guidelines featured here; then break the program down into logical modules and allocate a suitable proportion of time to each of them, these will be your milestones; you can create a time plan by using a spreadsheet on your computer, or a personal organizer such as MS Outlook, you could also use a financial forecasting software; break your time forecasts down into manageable chunks of time, the more specific you can be, the more productive and accurate your time management will be; finally, use formulas where possible to do your time calculations for you, because this will help later on when your forecasts need to change in line with actual performance. With reference to your task planning: refer to your list of tasks that need to be undertaken in order to achieve your program objectives; with reference to your time plan, calculate when each task should be implemented; remember that you are not estimating when your objectives will be achieved, but when you will need to focus upon implementing the corresponding tasks; you also need to ensure that each task is implemented in conjunction with the associated training modules which are relevant; then break each single task down into a list of specific to do’s, say approximately ten to do’s for each task and enter these into your study plan; once again you could use MS Outlook to incorporate both your time and task planning and this could constitute your study plan; you could also use a project management software like MS Project. You should now have a clear and realistic forecast detailing when you can expect to be able to do something about undertaking the tasks to achieve your program objectives.

Performance management

It is one thing to develop your study forecast, it is quite another to monitor your progress. Ultimately it is less important whether you achieve your original study forecast and more important that you update it so that it constantly remains realistic in line with your performance. As you begin to work through the program, you will begin to have more of an idea about your own personal performance and productivity levels as a distance-learner. Once you have completed your first study module, you should re-evaluate your study forecast for both time and tasks, so that they reflect your actual performance level achieved. In order to achieve this you must first time yourself while training by using an alarm clock. Set the alarm for hourly intervals and make a note of how far you have come within that time. You can then make a note of your actual performance on your study plan and then compare your performance against your forecast. Then consider the reasons that have contributed towards your performance level, whether they are positive or negative and make a considered adjustment to your future forecasts as a result. Given time, you should start achieving your forecasts regularly.

With reference to time management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual time taken in your study plan; consider your successes with time-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; consider your failures with time-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to time planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your time expectations. You need to be consistent with your time management, otherwise you will never complete your studies. This will either be because you are not contributing enough time to your studies, or you will become less efficient with the time that you do allocate to your studies. Remember, if you are not in control of your studies, they can just become yet another cause of stress for you.

With reference to your task management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual tasks that you have undertaken in your study plan; consider your successes with task-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case; take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; consider your failures with task-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to task planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your task expectations. You need to be consistent with your task management, otherwise you will never know whether you are achieving your program objectives or not.

Keeping in touch

You will have access to qualified and experienced professors and tutors who are responsible for providing tutorial support for your particular training program. So don’t be shy about letting them know how you are getting on. We keep electronic records of all tutorial support emails so that professors and tutors can review previous correspondence before considering an individual response. It also means that there is a record of all communications between you and your professors and tutors and this helps to avoid any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation. If you have a problem relating to the program, share it with them via email. It is likely that they have come across the same problem before and are usually able to make helpful suggestions and steer you in the right direction. To learn more about when and how to use tutorial support, please refer to the Tutorial Support section of this student information guide. This will help you to ensure that you are making the most of tutorial support that is available to you and will ultimately contribute towards your success and enjoyment with your training program.

Work colleagues and family

You should certainly discuss your program study progress with your colleagues, friends and your family. Appleton Greene training programs are very practical. They require you to seek information from other people, to plan, develop and implement processes with other people and to achieve feedback from other people in relation to viability and productivity. You will therefore have plenty of opportunities to test your ideas and enlist the views of others. People tend to be sympathetic towards distance-learners, so don’t bottle it all up in yourself. Get out there and share it! It is also likely that your family and colleagues are going to benefit from your labors with the program, so they are likely to be much more interested in being involved than you might think. Be bold about delegating work to those who might benefit themselves. This is a great way to achieve understanding and commitment from people who you may later rely upon for process implementation. Share your experiences with your friends and family.

Making it relevant

The key to successful learning is to make it relevant to your own individual circumstances. At all times you should be trying to make bridges between the content of the program and your own situation. Whether you achieve this through quiet reflection or through interactive discussion with your colleagues, client partners or your family, remember that it is the most important and rewarding aspect of translating your studies into real self-improvement. You should be clear about how you want the program to benefit you. This involves setting clear study objectives in relation to the content of the course in terms of understanding, concepts, completing research or reviewing activities and relating the content of the modules to your own situation. Your objectives may understandably change as you work through the program, in which case you should enter the revised objectives on your study plan so that you have a permanent reminder of what you are trying to achieve, when and why.

Distance-learning check-list

Prepare your study environment, your study tools and rules.
Undertake detailed self-assessment in terms of your ability as a learner.
Create a format for your study plan.
Consider your study objectives and tasks.
Create a study forecast.
Assess your study performance.
Re-evaluate your study forecast.
Be consistent when managing your study plan.
Use your Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) for tutorial support.
Make sure you keep in touch with those around you.

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Tutorial Support

Programs

Appleton Greene uses standard and bespoke corporate training programs as vessels to transfer business process improvement knowledge into the heart of our clients’ organizations. Each individual program focuses upon the implementation of a specific business process, which enables clients to easily quantify their return on investment. There are hundreds of established Appleton Greene corporate training products now available to clients within customer services, e-business, finance, globalization, human resources, information technology, legal, management, marketing and production. It does not matter whether a client’s employees are located within one office, or an unlimited number of international offices, we can still bring them together to learn and implement specific business processes collectively. Our approach to global localization enables us to provide clients with a truly international service with that all important personal touch. Appleton Greene corporate training programs can be provided virtually or locally and they are all unique in that they individually focus upon a specific business function. They are implemented over a sustainable period of time and professional support is consistently provided by qualified learning providers and specialist consultants.

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Support available

You will have a designated Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and an Accredited Consultant and we encourage you to communicate with them as much as possible. In all cases tutorial support is provided online because we can then keep a record of all communications to ensure that tutorial support remains consistent. You would also be forwarding your work to the tutorial support unit for evaluation and assessment. You will receive individual feedback on all of the work that you undertake on a one-to-one basis, together with specific recommendations for anything that may need to be changed in order to achieve a pass with merit or a pass with distinction and you then have as many opportunities as you may need to re-submit project studies until they meet with the required standard. Consequently the only reason that you should really fail (CLP) is if you do not do the work. It makes no difference to us whether a student takes 12 months or 18 months to complete the program, what matters is that in all cases the same quality standard will have been achieved.

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Support Process

Please forward all of your future emails to the designated (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit email address that has been provided and please do not duplicate or copy your emails to other AGC email accounts as this will just cause unnecessary administration. Please note that emails are always answered as quickly as possible but you will need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general tutorial support emails during busy periods, because emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. You will also need to allow a period of up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Please therefore kindly allow for this within your time planning. All communications are managed online via email because it enables tutorial service support managers to review other communications which have been received before responding and it ensures that there is a copy of all communications retained on file for future reference. All communications will be stored within your personal (CLP) study file here at Appleton Greene throughout your designated study period. If you need any assistance or clarification at any time, please do not hesitate to contact us by forwarding an email and remember that we are here to help. If you have any questions, please list and number your questions succinctly and you can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each and every query.

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Time Management

It takes approximately 1 Year to complete the Simplified Wellness corporate training program, incorporating 12 x 6-hour monthly workshops. Each student will also need to contribute approximately 4 hours per week over 1 Year of their personal time. Students can study from home or work at their own pace and are responsible for managing their own study plan. There are no formal examinations and students are evaluated and assessed based upon their project study submissions, together with the quality of their internal analysis and supporting documents. They can contribute more time towards study when they have the time to do so and can contribute less time when they are busy. All students tend to be in full time employment while studying and the Simplified Wellness program is purposely designed to accommodate this, so there is plenty of flexibility in terms of time management. It makes no difference to us at Appleton Greene, whether individuals take 12-18 months to complete this program. What matters is that in all cases the same standard of quality will have been achieved with the standard and bespoke programs that have been developed.

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Distance Learning Guide

The distance learning guide should be your first port of call when starting your training program. It will help you when you are planning how and when to study, how to create the right environment and how to establish the right frame of mind. If you can lay the foundations properly during the planning stage, then it will contribute to your enjoyment and productivity while training later. The guide helps to change your lifestyle in order to accommodate time for study and to cultivate good study habits. It helps you to chart your progress so that you can measure your performance and achieve your goals. It explains the tools that you will need for study and how to make them work. It also explains how to translate academic theory into practical reality. Spend some time now working through your distance learning guide and make sure that you have firm foundations in place so that you can make the most of your distance learning program. There is no requirement for you to attend training workshops or classes at Appleton Greene offices. The entire program is undertaken online, program course manuals and project studies are administered via the Appleton Greene web site and via email, so you are able to study at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office as long as you have a computer and access to the internet.

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How To Study

The how to study guide provides students with a clear understanding of the Appleton Greene facilitation via distance learning training methods and enables students to obtain a clear overview of the training program content. It enables students to understand the step-by-step training methods used by Appleton Greene and how course manuals are integrated with project studies. It explains the research and development that is required and the need to provide evidence and references to support your statements. It also enables students to understand precisely what will be required of them in order to achieve a pass with merit and a pass with distinction for individual project studies and provides useful guidance on how to be innovative and creative when developing your Unique Program Proposition (UPP).

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Tutorial Support

Tutorial support for the Appleton Greene Simplified Wellness corporate training program is provided online either through the Appleton Greene Client Support Portal (CSP), or via email. All tutorial support requests are facilitated by a designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). They are responsible for deciding which professor or tutor is the most appropriate option relating to the support required and then the tutorial support request is forwarded onto them. Once the professor or tutor has completed the tutorial support request and answered any questions that have been asked, this communication is then returned to the student via email by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). This enables all tutorial support, between students, professors and tutors, to be facilitated by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM) efficiently and securely through the email account. You will therefore need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general support queries and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because all tutorial support requests are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Consequently you need to put some thought into the management of your tutorial support procedure in order to ensure that your study plan is feasible and to obtain the maximum possible benefit from tutorial support during your period of study. Please retain copies of your tutorial support emails for future reference. Please ensure that ALL of your tutorial support emails are set out using the format as suggested within your guide to tutorial support. Your tutorial support emails need to be referenced clearly to the specific part of the course manual or project study which you are working on at any given time. You also need to list and number any questions that you would like to ask, up to a maximum of five questions within each tutorial support email. Remember the more specific you can be with your questions the more specific your answers will be too and this will help you to avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding, misinterpretation, or duplication. The guide to tutorial support is intended to help you to understand how and when to use support in order to ensure that you get the most out of your training program. Appleton Greene training programs are designed to enable you to do things for yourself. They provide you with a structure or a framework and we use tutorial support to facilitate students while they practically implement what they learn. In other words, we are enabling students to do things for themselves. The benefits of distance learning via facilitation are considerable and are much more sustainable in the long-term than traditional short-term knowledge sharing programs. Consequently you should learn how and when to use tutorial support so that you can maximize the benefits from your learning experience with Appleton Greene. This guide describes the purpose of each training function and how to use them and how to use tutorial support in relation to each aspect of the training program. It also provides useful tips and guidance with regard to best practice.

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Tutorial Support Tips

Students are often unsure about how and when to use tutorial support with Appleton Greene. This Tip List will help you to understand more about how to achieve the most from using tutorial support. Refer to it regularly to ensure that you are continuing to use the service properly. Tutorial support is critical to the success of your training experience, but it is important to understand when and how to use it in order to maximize the benefit that you receive. It is no coincidence that those students who succeed are those that learn how to be positive, proactive and productive when using tutorial support.

Be positive and friendly with your tutorial support emails

Remember that if you forward an email to the tutorial support unit, you are dealing with real people. “Do unto others as you would expect others to do unto you”. If you are positive, complimentary and generally friendly in your emails, you will generate a similar response in return. This will be more enjoyable, productive and rewarding for you in the long-term.

Think about the impression that you want to create

Every time that you communicate, you create an impression, which can be either positive or negative, so put some thought into the impression that you want to create. Remember that copies of all tutorial support emails are stored electronically and tutors will always refer to prior correspondence before responding to any current emails. Over a period of time, a general opinion will be arrived at in relation to your character, attitude and ability. Try to manage your own frustrations, mood swings and temperament professionally, without involving the tutorial support team. Demonstrating frustration or a lack of patience is a weakness and will be interpreted as such. The good thing about communicating in writing, is that you will have the time to consider your content carefully, you can review it and proof-read it before sending your email to Appleton Greene and this should help you to communicate more professionally, consistently and to avoid any unnecessary knee-jerk reactions to individual situations as and when they may arise. Please also remember that the CLP Tutorial Support Unit will not just be responsible for evaluating and assessing the quality of your work, they will also be responsible for providing recommendations to other learning providers and to client contacts within the Appleton Greene global client network, so do be in control of your own emotions and try to create a good impression.

Remember that quality is preferred to quantity

Please remember that when you send an email to the tutorial support team, you are not using Twitter or Text Messaging. Try not to forward an email every time that you have a thought. This will not prove to be productive either for you or for the tutorial support team. Take time to prepare your communications properly, as if you were writing a professional letter to a business colleague and make a list of queries that you are likely to have and then incorporate them within one email, say once every month, so that the tutorial support team can understand more about context, application and your methodology for study. Get yourself into a consistent routine with your tutorial support requests and use the tutorial support template provided with ALL of your emails. The (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit will not spoon-feed you with information. They need to be able to evaluate and assess your tutorial support requests carefully and professionally.

Be specific about your questions in order to receive specific answers

Try not to write essays by thinking as you are writing tutorial support emails. The tutorial support unit can be unclear about what in fact you are asking, or what you are looking to achieve. Be specific about asking questions that you want answers to. Number your questions. You will then receive specific answers to each and every question. This is the main purpose of tutorial support via email.

Keep a record of your tutorial support emails

It is important that you keep a record of all tutorial support emails that are forwarded to you. You can then refer to them when necessary and it avoids any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.

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Individual training workshops or telephone support

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Tutorial Support Email Format

You should use this tutorial support format if you need to request clarification or assistance while studying with your training program. Please note that ALL of your tutorial support request emails should use the same format. You should therefore set up a standard email template, which you can then use as and when you need to. Emails that are forwarded to Appleton Greene, which do not use the following format, may be rejected and returned to you by the (CLP) Program Administration Manager. A detailed response will then be forwarded to you via email usually within 20 business days of receipt for general support queries and 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Your tutorial support request, together with the corresponding TSU reply, will then be saved and stored within your electronic TSU file at Appleton Greene for future reference.

Subject line of your email

Please insert: Appleton Greene (CLP) Tutorial Support Request: (Your Full Name) (Date), within the subject line of your email.

Main body of your email

Please insert:
1. Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) Tutorial Support Request
2. Your Full Name
3. Date of TS request
4. Preferred email address
5. Backup email address
6. Course manual page name or number (reference)
7. Project study page name or number (reference)

Subject of enquiry
Please insert a maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Briefly outline the subject matter of your inquiry, or what your questions relate to.

Question 1

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 3

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 4

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 5

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Please note that a maximum of 5 questions is permitted with each individual tutorial support request email.

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Procedure

* List the questions that you want to ask first, then re-arrange them in order of priority. Make sure that you reference them, where necessary, to the course manuals or project studies.
* Make sure that you are specific about your questions and number them. Try to plan the content within your emails to make sure that it is relevant.
* Make sure that your tutorial support emails are set out correctly, using the Tutorial Support Email Format provided here.
* Save a copy of your email and incorporate the date sent after the subject title. Keep your tutorial support emails within the same file and in date order for easy reference.
* Allow up to 20 business days for a response to general tutorial support emails and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because detailed individual responses will be made in all cases and tutorial support emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received.
* Emails can and do get lost. So if you have not received a reply within the appropriate time, forward another copy or a reminder to the tutorial support unit to be sure that it has been received but do not forward reminders unless the appropriate time has elapsed.
* When you receive a reply, save it immediately featuring the date of receipt after the subject heading for easy reference. In most cases the tutorial support unit replies to your questions individually, so you will have a record of the questions that you asked as well as the answers offered. With project studies however, separate emails are usually forwarded by the tutorial support unit, so do keep a record of your own original emails as well.
* Remember to be positive and friendly in your emails. You are dealing with real people who will respond to the same things that you respond to.
* Try not to repeat questions that have already been asked in previous emails. If this happens the tutorial support unit will probably just refer you to the appropriate answers that have already been provided within previous emails.
* If you lose your tutorial support email records you can write to Appleton Greene to receive a copy of your tutorial support file, but a separate administration charge may be levied for this service.

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How To Study

Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can help you to plan a task list for getting started so that you can be clear about your direction and your priorities in relation to your training program. It is also a good way to introduce yourself to the tutorial support team.

Planning your study environment

Your study conditions are of great importance and will have a direct effect on how much you enjoy your training program. Consider how much space you will have, whether it is comfortable and private and whether you are likely to be disturbed. The study tools and facilities at your disposal are also important to the success of your distance-learning experience. Your tutorial support unit can help with useful tips and guidance, regardless of your starting position. It is important to get this right before you start working on your training program.

Planning your program objectives

It is important that you have a clear list of study objectives, in order of priority, before you start working on your training program. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance here to ensure that your study objectives have been afforded due consideration and priority.

Planning how and when to study

Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. This approach is designed to let you study efficiently away from the traditional classroom environment. It is important however, that you plan how and when to study, so that you are making the most of your natural attributes, strengths and opportunities. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance and useful tips to ensure that you are playing to your strengths.

Planning your study tasks

You should have a clear understanding of the study tasks that you should be undertaking and the priority associated with each task. These tasks should also be integrated with your program objectives. The distance learning guide and the guide to tutorial support for students should help you here, but if you need any clarification or assistance, please contact your tutorial support unit.

Planning your time

You will need to allocate specific times during your calendar when you intend to study if you are to have a realistic chance of completing your program on time. You are responsible for planning and managing your own study time, so it is important that you are successful with this. Your tutorial support unit can help you with this if your time plan is not working.

Keeping in touch

Consistency is the key here. If you communicate too frequently in short bursts, or too infrequently with no pattern, then your management ability with your studies will be questioned, both by you and by your tutorial support unit. It is obvious when a student is in control and when one is not and this will depend how able you are at sticking with your study plan. Inconsistency invariably leads to in-completion.

Charting your progress

Your tutorial support team can help you to chart your own study progress. Refer to your distance learning guide for further details.

Making it work

To succeed, all that you will need to do is apply yourself to undertaking your training program and interpreting it correctly. Success or failure lies in your hands and your hands alone, so be sure that you have a strategy for making it work. Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can guide you through the process of program planning, development and implementation.

Reading methods

Interpretation is often unique to the individual but it can be improved and even quantified by implementing consistent interpretation methods. Interpretation can be affected by outside interference such as family members, TV, or the Internet, or simply by other thoughts which are demanding priority in our minds. One thing that can improve our productivity is using recognized reading methods. This helps us to focus and to be more structured when reading information for reasons of importance, rather than relaxation.

Speed reading

When reading through course manuals for the first time, subconsciously set your reading speed to be just fast enough that you cannot dwell on individual words or tables. With practice, you should be able to read an A4 sheet of paper in one minute. You will not achieve much in the way of a detailed understanding, but your brain will retain a useful overview. This overview will be important later on and will enable you to keep individual issues in perspective with a more generic picture because speed reading appeals to the memory part of the brain. Do not worry about what you do or do not remember at this stage.

Content reading

Once you have speed read everything, you can then start work in earnest. You now need to read a particular section of your course manual thoroughly, by making detailed notes while you read. This process is called Content Reading and it will help to consolidate your understanding and interpretation of the information that has been provided.

Making structured notes on the course manuals

When you are content reading, you should be making detailed notes, which are both structured and informative. Make these notes in a MS Word document on your computer, because you can then amend and update these as and when you deem it to be necessary. List your notes under three headings: 1. Interpretation – 2. Questions – 3. Tasks. The purpose of the 1st section is to clarify your interpretation by writing it down. The purpose of the 2nd section is to list any questions that the issue raises for you. The purpose of the 3rd section is to list any tasks that you should undertake as a result. Anyone who has graduated with a business-related degree should already be familiar with this process.

Organizing structured notes separately

You should then transfer your notes to a separate study notebook, preferably one that enables easy referencing, such as a MS Word Document, a MS Excel Spreadsheet, a MS Access Database, or a personal organizer on your cell phone. Transferring your notes allows you to have the opportunity of cross-checking and verifying them, which assists considerably with understanding and interpretation. You will also find that the better you are at doing this, the more chance you will have of ensuring that you achieve your study objectives.

Question your understanding

Do challenge your understanding. Explain things to yourself in your own words by writing things down.

Clarifying your understanding

If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your understanding.

Question your interpretation

Do challenge your interpretation. Qualify your interpretation by writing it down.

Clarifying your interpretation

If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your interpretation.

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Qualification Requirements

The student will need to successfully complete the project study and all of the exercises relating to the Simplified Wellness corporate training program, achieving a pass with merit or distinction in each case, in order to qualify as an Accredited Simplified Wellness Specialist (APTS). All monthly workshops need to be tried and tested within your company. These project studies can be completed in your own time and at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office. There are no formal examinations, assessment is based upon the successful completion of the project studies. They are called project studies because, unlike case studies, these projects are not theoretical, they incorporate real program processes that need to be properly researched and developed. The project studies assist us in measuring your understanding and interpretation of the training program and enable us to assess qualification merits. All of the project studies are based entirely upon the content within the training program and they enable you to integrate what you have learnt into your corporate training practice.

Simplified Wellness – Grading Contribution

Project Study – Grading Contribution

Customer Service – 10%
E-business – 05%
Finance – 10%
Globalization – 10%
Human Resources – 10%
Information Technology – 10%
Legal – 05%
Management – 10%
Marketing – 10%
Production – 10%
Education – 05%
Logistics – 05%
TOTAL GRADING – 100%

Qualification grades

A mark of 90% = Pass with Distinction.
A mark of 75% = Pass with Merit.
A mark of less than 75% = Fail.
If you fail to achieve a mark of 75% with a project study, you will receive detailed feedback from the Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and/or Accredited Consultant, together with a list of tasks which you will need to complete, in order to ensure that your project study meets with the minimum quality standard that is required by Appleton Greene. You can then re-submit your project study for further evaluation and assessment. Indeed you can re-submit as many drafts of your project studies as you need to, until such a time as they eventually meet with the required standard by Appleton Greene, so you need not worry about this, it is all part of the learning process.

When marking project studies, Appleton Greene is looking for sufficient evidence of the following:

Pass with merit

A satisfactory level of program understanding
A satisfactory level of program interpretation
A satisfactory level of project study content presentation
A satisfactory level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
A satisfactory level of the practical integration of academic theory

Pass with distinction

An exceptional level of program understanding
An exceptional level of program interpretation
An exceptional level of project study content presentation
An exceptional level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
An exceptional level of the practical integration of academic theory

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Preliminary Analysis

Articles on Post Traumatic Mental Health:

www.abc.net.au

www.abc.net.au

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Using brief app-based mindfulness intervention on psychosocial outcomes in healthy adults:

www.journals.plos.org

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Improvement in stress, affect and irritability following brief use of mindfulness-based smartphone apps:

www.link.springer.com

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Modifying resilience mechanisms in at risk individuals:

www.ajp.psychiatryonline.org

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United Nations Common Guidance on Helping Build Resilient Societies:

www.unsdg.un.org

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Course Manuals 1-12

Course Manual 1: What is Resilience?

Introduction

The business environment of today has undergone a significant transformation, as corporate executives understand the value of long-term brand development and sustainable growth over short-term profit maximization.

There are always internal and external factors that create challenges. With the speed that technology develops, barriers to entry falling and people becoming more educated, the challenges that organizations and their people face increase rapidly as well.

In the past decades the world has experienced epidemics, a pandemic, supply chain disruptions, a deluge of natural disasters, political turmoil, rampant retail crime, and economic uncertainty. It has become clear to many corporate leaders that unprecedented upheaval is the new normal, and there is no turning back in the face of these mounting challenges.

In order to meet their brand promises, successful organizations must invest in the tools and procedures necessary to analyze their capacity for shock absorption and proactively reduce interruptions.

Dexterous leaders have stepped into actively creating methods to aid in their increased agility, and greater ability to adapt and respond to unforeseen disruptions as well as long-term challenges.

Extensive initiatives for sustainability and resilience go way beyond corporate governance. In order to bolster their competitive advantage in the upcoming years, executives are carefully investing in understanding what being resilient really means, and then providing themselves with the tools and resources to arm their people to thrive in challenging situations.

During and even after challenges arise, the competitive environment for many organizations undergoes a significant transformation. Whether it be changes to people’s interactions with physical sites, the mix of in person versus online purchasing, changes to travel means and modes, or changes to employee or customer expectations, organizations and their people need to be nimble enough to move with what changes need to be made during and after challenges arise.

Companies who are able to foresee these changing market demands are better able to meet new wants before their rivals. It is also true that organizations with high levels of resilience will be best placed to create opportunities from challenges that present.

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What is resilience?

When we talk about resilience, we are often referring to resilience within individuals, but there are many forms of resilience and it is important to understand their role and the ways in which they impact an organization’s ability to move with challenges as they arise.

Wikipedia tells us that resilience is:

1. (psychology, neuroscience) The mental ability to recover quickly from depression, illness or misfortune.

2. (physics) The physical property of material that can resume its shape after being stretched or deformed; elasticity.

3. The positive capacity of an organizational system or company to adapt and return to equilibrium after a crisis, failure or any kind of disruption, including: an outage, natural disasters, man-made disasters, terrorism, or similar (particularly IT systems, archives).

4. The capacity to resist destruction or defeat, especially when under extreme pressure.

So, you can see that resilience can apply to people, materials and/or organizations but that ultimately the ‘capacity to resist destruction or defeat, especially when under extreme pressure’ can be applied to each area.

Within organizations, we really look at the impact that resilience has on the business and the people within it.

The American Psychological Association (APA) defines resilience as both the process and the result of successfully adjusting to adverse or challenging life situations. According to the APA, it is the capacity for mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adaptation to both internal and external circumstances.

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Is resilience inherited or can it be learned?

Resilience is the process and result of overcoming difficult or demanding life situations, particularly through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adaptation to internal and external challenges. Resilient reactions to stress and trauma can be greatly influenced by genetic characteristics.

Resilience is frequently thought of as an innate personality attribute that people either have or don’t; however research has demonstrated that it is actually a skill or feature that can be learned.

Resilience is not always a personality attribute that only some people possess, even though some situations may make some people more resilient than others. Contrarily, everyone may acquire and develop the behaviors, attitudes, and behaviors that make up resilience.

How well people adapt to adversity depends on a number of elements, the most important of which are:

• the perspectives and interactions that people have with the world.

• the extent to which resources are available.

• the quality of resources available to each individual.

• certain coping mechanisms.

Numerous psychological studies conducted have shown that the resources and abilities linked to more positive adaptation – that is, more resilience – can be developed through continual practice.

Even those who are resilient go through stress, emotional turmoil, and pain. Working through emotional pain and suffering is a sign of resilience.

It’s crucial to remember that developing your skill set to become resilient over time is important. You must put in the effort to develop resilience, and you’ll probably encounter obstacles along the way. It depends on your own actions and abilities (such communication and self-esteem), as well as on external factors (like your social network and the resources you have access to).

Some people possess strong resilience characteristics from birth. Others need to actively step into acquiring resiliency through skill development and deliberate resilience building. Just like riding a bike, resilience is a skill. You may be a more natural bike rider than others, but ultimately, you get better the more you practice.

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The 7 C’s of Resilience

Throughout the resilience movement, there have been seven C’s that have been adopted over time to represent the components that make up resilience.

Competence

The capacity to recognize and manage challenging situations. It calls for having the abilities to handle difficulties and having the chance to put those abilities to use in real-world settings. By acquiring these abilities, individuals can master stress management and social skills.

Confidence

The belief in one’s own talents and the ability to show expertise in different circumstances. Understanding your unique strengths also helps you build self-confidence which assists in becoming self-motivated to tackle obstacles.

Connection

Individuals who have strong bonds with their friends, families, and community organizations are likely to feel more secure and like they belong. They are more likely to have strong morals and to avoid engaging in other harmful habits.

Character

Individuals that have ‘character’ have a strong feeling of confidence in themselves. They are aware of their principles and feel at ease upholding them. They are able to show that they care about other people. They are capable of making moral decisions and making a positive contribution to society because they have a strong moral compass.

Contribution

By individually contributing to the world, individuals can learn the important lesson that their presence makes the world a better place. You will be more willing to take action and make decisions that benefit the world if you hear that your contributions are appreciated and thanked. This helps develop competence, character, and sense of connection.

Coping

Individuals who have a diverse set of coping mechanisms (social skills, stress management techniques) at their disposal are better able to manage their emotions and are more equipped to deal with the difficulties of life.

Control

Individuals are more likely to know how to make decisions that will allow them to overcome obstacles in life when they understand that they have control over their choices and actions.

The earlier in life that individuals are provided with access to tools and resources that allow them to build these 7 components, the easier it will be for them to build and maintain resilience that will serve them as challenges arise in the future.

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The 5 R’s of Resilience

Self-care is a significant component of resiliency, yet most people allow themselves very little time to ensure that their basic needs are met and then wonder why they can’t cope with the demands that challenges throw their way.

There are five key self-care practices that are important to building and maintaining resilience over the long term:

Regulation

In order to improve our parasympathetic nervous system – the system that governs our body’s capacity to relax – it is crucial to take care of our body, heart, and mind. Take care of and nourish your physical and emotional needs by:

• calming the body, establishing it in the present, and giving it time to recover from any tension.

• identifying your feelings, labelling them, staying in the present through relationships and goals, and responding honorably in difficult emotional situations.

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Reflection and right thinking

We can recast our thoughts and live in truth when we can control our emotions. Pay attention to your ideas and convictions by:

• recognizing the assumptions that are made regarding certain circumstances and recognizing the ‘lies believed’ about you and other people.

• orienting oneself to the current situation and the known.

• reflecting back to others the truth and grace.

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Relationships

Our resilience and healing depend on social support, both for ourselves and for others. Maintain loving connections by:

• spending time with loved ones and acquaintances.

• reminding yourself and others that our suffering is shared by everybody.

• being emotionally present and providing assistance in times of need for others.

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Respite and rest

We all require a place where we can escape stress and get more physical rest. Take care of your surroundings by:

• deliberately reducing one’s exposure to stress and trauma (for example, by consuming less media).

• When possible, leaving high-danger situations occasionally.

• incorporating breaks from work into your day, week, month, or even year in a sustainable rhythm.

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Reason

As humans, we require a feeling of direction in our actions in order to maintain our connection to the divine. Pay attention to that which is divine in your life by:

• focusing on a devotion to your calling in your career, as well as to the Divine’s presence in society.

• making sense of crises, disruptions, and difficulties.

• determining the motivation behind one’s conduct.

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How to increase your resilience:

It’s not about “toughing it out” or smiling after every setback to demonstrate resilience. When faced with a setback, resilient people still experience sadness, rage, or frustration. However, it is their higher level of resilience that allows them to advance and overcome obstacles while maintaining hope and a positive outlook.

Some examples of ways to increase resilience include:

• Keep things in perspective. Determine the size of the issue by asking yourself “How big is this problem really?” and “What do I need to do?” Do not exaggerate or overreact; instead, focus on the positive aspects of your life and the fact that things will change.

• Realize that you can choose how you respond to difficulties. While you have no control over what happens to you, you do have influence over how you react. You have the option to respond to changes and issues in a hopeful and upbeat manner.

• Recognize change. Life is full of uncertainty and change. When you realize this, it will be easier for you to respond to change in a flexible manner.

• Focus on the positive. Focus on how you can overcome obstacles rather than on any potential drawbacks as you prepare for them. You’ll feel more in control and less overwhelmed as a result of this.

• Learn to control your emotions. Take action to calm yourself (deep breathing, substituting negative thoughts) when you see that your tension and anxiety are rising in response to a difficulty.

• Conquer your fear. We all experience dread, particularly when faced with change. But we can be prevented by fear from seeking out novel experiences and chances for development. Start with the simplest action you can take that will move you in the direction you want to go if you are presented with a situation that feels intimidating or overwhelming. “What’s the smallest thing I can do to get started?” you should ask yourself. After giving it some thought, act on it.

• Let your anger go. A challenging task might make us feel irate and frustrated. Although these emotions are normal, they won’t aid in our progress. By writing about your anger or speaking with a trusted friend, you can work through your rage and attempt to let go of unpleasant emotions.

• Make a move. Refrain from wallowing in issues. Instead, concentrate on the answers. Decide what you can do, then take each step towards achieving it.

Laugh. Try to find time to grin and laugh, even when everything around you seems to be going wrong. It will let you temporarily forget your concerns and is incredibly healing. Spend time with a friend who has a sense of humor or rent a funny movie.

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Case Study: Navigating the 7 C’s of Resilience Like a Pro

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s head coach, John Cooper, declared to the world on September 28, 2020, “Sometimes in failure, you find success.” He is undoubtedly correct.

To this point, the talented Tampa Bay Lightning had endured a string of setbacks and failures over the previous five seasons. But then, they stepped into the practice of using the 7 C’s of resilience and it empowered them to win the Stanley Cup.

In previous seasons, they were expected to win, but they were swept in the opening round of the playoffs. The sweep upset players and supporters and also shocked the hockey community.

In previous years, they had been severely defeated, so what gave them the tenacity to keep going? A nd what did Coach Cooper mean when he said that failure can lead to success?

There’s a lesson in resilience that we can all learn from if we set out to capture the knowledge gained through the Lightning’s victory.

The 7C’s of Resilience

You need to familiarize yourself with the 7 C’s of resilience – competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control – in order to comprehend Tampa Bay’s resilience.

According to Julien Brise Bois, general manager of the Lightning: “Once you get to the playoffs, the talent gap between the clubs is minor. Resilience is the key, in the end.” His wise words let us know that the Lightning valued developing resilience and felt confident in their skills.

The first step to being more resilient was to have confidence in one’s abilities.

Competence is the conviction that you can carry out a specific task successfully and the humility to recognize when you need assistance.

Ask Lightning player Tyler Seguin, who stated: “We believe in each other, confidence is crucial. We have a group that is confident.” The Lightning’s confidence allowed them to view setbacks as rest breaks enroute to victory, and so should we. We can all improve our self-confidence which then allows us to grow more robust resilience.

Connection is the next ‘C’. On the path to victory and resilience, connection is essential. The Lightning developed a sense of camaraderie among their members that propelled them to victory.

What Steven Stamkos said about teammate and best buddy Victor Hedman is a good illustration of the closeness of the group: “What can you say? We’ve been together since the first day and playing for this is what you do through all the ups and downs. The fact that I get to experience this alongside Heddy makes it one of the nicest experiences in the world for me. Strong bonds produce tenacious heroes who bounce back from defeat to celebrate victory.”

The Lightning relied on their tenacity, diligence, and humility as they battled through the playoffs. Each player’s character contributed to the resiliency of the squad, which was able to succeed despite its setbacks. We ought to allow the Lightning to serve as a catalyst for character development.

The Lightning were met by an outpouring of support and cheer from the Tampa Bay community as they arrived back home. “We’re excited to share this with Tampa,” said Tampa Bay center Alex Killorn to the cheering crowd. The Lightning gave the state of Florida some vitality while Floridians were battling through the pandemic. In this difficult time, the Lightning’s accomplishment brought joy and light. We can help others in return. It does not matter what you are contributing towards, any form builds resilience, so find a way to give back that is meaningful to you!

One of the few guarantees in life is each of us will face setbacks, challenges, and stress; you may even be stressed out today. Although they are not unfamiliar with this, the Tampa Bay Lightning are conversant with sixth ‘C’, Coping.

When asked about team losses, top defenseman Victor Hedman proudly responded: “We’re a resilient group. We are skilled in dealing with difficulty.” Hedman reminds us of the importance of positive coping strategies. So, whether it’s meditating, working out, or petting your dog, you should find what works for you and equip yourself with as many positive coping strategies as possible!

The final ‘C’ is Control. As much as we would like, we cannot control everything. If we could, we wouldn’t have to worry about challenges, setbacks, and losing playoff hockey games. Tampa Bay Lightning forward, Yanni Gourde, knows a thing about control. When asked about the other team, he told reporters: “You just got to go out there and play your best, try to win that particular game and go from there.” This resilient team shows us what happens when we embrace what we can control.

We all can strive to find success in our failures, just as the Tampa Bay Lightning has. We too can have our setbacks be milestones on our journey towards success.

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Exercise 6.1: Transcending Challenging Events

Break into 2 groups of 5 people.

As a group, identify a challenging event that is currently taking place.

Briefly describe the event. Write down the reasons you believe it is important that the group perseveres and gets through this challenge. Write down as many reasons as you can. Your values are the things that matter most to you in life, such as being honest, kind, caring, autonomous, charitable, and financially independent. For this step, consider those values that encapsulate the essence of each of the reasons you identified in Step 2. (For example, if one of your reasons for transcending the challenging event was to help your clients, then a value you could attach to this might be ‘caring’).

Create a visual reminder that you can use to keep these values front of mind. This might be in the form of a picture, words on a page, illustrations, meme’s GIF’s or some form of digital representation. As a group, decide where this visual representation should be placed so that each member of the group can see it regularly. Share your responses with the main group.

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Course Manual 2: The History of Resilience

Introduction

Resilience first appeared as a concept in the early 17th Century where it appears to have come from the Latin verb ‘resilire’ which gained a meaning in the English language of rebound or recoil.

The term resilience doesn’t seem to appear in any documented works until it was introduced into literature written by Mr Thomas Tredgold in 1818 when he used the term to describe the strength of beams of timber.

In 1856, Robert Mallett then further developed the concept of resilience by applying it as a measurement in regard to the ability of particular materials to tolerate particular shocks.

Thus, resilience was first seen as a form of measurement used in engineering and construction focused endeavors.

In the 20th Century, resilience started to be used as a measurement in new fields. Researchers started to apply resilience measures in relation to child psychology and being exposed to particular threats in the 1970s. In this application, people were assessed for their ability to recover from adversity. Those who showed a higher aptitude to being able to recover were then said to be ‘resilient’. Professor Sir Michael Rutter was one of the many researchers who was interested in a variety of risk encounters and their corresponding results.

In 1973, C.S. Holling then began to apply resilience theory through the lens of ecology in and shaped his work, Resilience and Stability of Ecological Systems. During this time, ecological resilience became known to be a measure of the persistence of systems and of their ability to absorb change and disturbance and still maintain the same relationships between state variables.

Holling discovered that a similar framework may be used to describe various types of resilience. Later, further personal, cultural, and societal applications were drawn in using the ecosystems application.

Within the ecological system, instability to neutral systems might result from the effects of fires, changes in the forest community, or the process of fishing, in addition to the climatic events mentioned by Holling. Contrarily, stability is the capacity of a system to resume its equilibrium condition following a brief perturbation.

Ecological and social resilience, in contrast to material and mechanical resilience, emphasize the redundancy and durability of several equilibrium states to preserve function.

From this research, and the application to other personal, cultural and societal fields, the most common definition of resilience emerged and was accepted as the successful adaptation in the face of difficulty.

Since this time, resilience research has gone through a number of stages. Psychologists started to realize that a lot of what seems to foster resilience comes from outside of the individual after initially focusing on the unflappable or unbeatable child.

The quest for resilience-building elements at the individual, family, community, cultural and more recently at the organizational levels resulted from this.

There is growing interest in resilience as a quality shared by entire organizations, communities and cultural groupings, in addition to the influences that community and culture have on resilience in individuals.

The idea that resilience is a process has benefited from the discovery by modern researchers that resilience components vary in various risk scenarios.

In order to support relative resistance, researchers are also interested in how certain protective factors interact with risk factors and other protective factors. Two further ideas are resilient reintegration, which holds that overcoming hardship propels people to a higher level of development, and the idea that resilience is an intrinsic talent that just needs to be properly awakened.

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An Evolving Concept

The most common definition of resilience is that it is successful adaptation in the face of difficulty. Resilience research has gone through a number of stages during the past few decades.

The initial focus of psychologists who were studying resilience levels was focused on what was termed in the psychology industry as the ‘invulnerable or invincible’ child, however Psychologists started to realize that a lot of what seems to foster resilience comes from outside of the individual rather than being genetically inherited at birth.

This realization saw the quest for resilience-building elements at the individual, family, community, and most recently, cultural levels result from this.

There is also a movement that is gaining interest where, rather than being individually focused, resilience is a quality shared by entire communities and cultural groupings, in addition to the influences that community and culture have on resilience in individuals.

The idea that resilience is a process has benefited from the discovery by modern researchers that resilience components vary in various risk scenarios. For example, perceived discrimination and historical trauma are two factors that contribute to the context in many Aboriginal communities, making them important to consider when describing the resilience process in a context that is relevant to these people.

In order to support relative resilience, researchers are also interested in how certain protective factors interact with risk factors and other protective factors. They have created resilience models of the ‘compensatory’, ‘protective’ and ‘challenge’ varieties for this aim.

The first resilience research was done by psychologists and psychiatrists. The idea was adopted by researchers with an interest in social and psychological factors that affect health, and they gradually expanded its application from the field of mental health to that of overall health. Early study on resilience focused on the individual, but more recently, academics have started to pay attention to resilience as a trait that exists across entire groups.

There are a number of key figures in the development of resilience over history. In more modern times, Werner, Luthar, Rutter and Hunter have all developed definitions that have been widely accepted and adopted within the psychology industry.

The word ‘resilience’ is used in a variety of ways. Werner (1995) cited three common usages among psychologists: resilience under stress; favorable developmental outcomes despite high-risk status; and recovery from trauma. The definition of resilience created by Luthar in 2006 that ‘resilience is the positive adaptation in the face of adversity’ became the most popular definition of resilience to that point and was adopted broadly by the psychology industry.

Significant adversity and constructive adaptation, according to Luthar, are two separate components of the notion of resilience. According to this viewpoint, resilience is never directly measured but rather inferred from the data supporting these aspects.

According to this perspective, hardship or clear severe danger are necessary for resilience.

Another popular definition of resilience was presented by Rutter in 1999 when he termed it to be ‘relative resistance to psychosocial risk events’. This definition focuses on a variety of outcomes, not only positive ones; it does not automatically assume that protection comes from happy experiences or that the solution resides in what the person does in the moment to deal with the negative event (how he or she copes with it).

The definitions of Rutter and Luthar are more similar than they first appear to be. Luthar emphasizes how an individual may show resilience in one area while experiencing disorder in another.

Optimal resilience and less optimal resilience are the two poles in Hunter’s (1999) continuum model of resilience. In this model, low resilience is characterized by ‘survival tactics of violence, high risk behaviors, and social and emotional withdrawal’. The key argument made by Hunter is that individuals who exhibit this level of resiliency frequently have poor adult adaptation.

Early research on resilience focused on the unique characteristics of the resilient kid or adolescent. Invulnerable or invincible were the key characteristics used as a focus of research in this area. Over time, researchers have gradually expanded or clarified the definition of resilience in light of their perception that these phrases are deceptive for a number of reasons.

First, scientists realized that some protective characteristics did not originate with the specific child. Three tiers of protective factors – the person, the family, and the community (school, classmates and the like) – were identified by Rutter in 1979 and Garmezy in 1984. The 1980s saw a lot of research into resilience promoting protective factors at these many levels.

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The need for resilience

In our workplaces and in our world (more broadly), stress and hardship come in many ways, but those who manage it well and perform above average despite their challenges have important insights to provide.

The psychological and physiological elements of stress are the two bodies of literature that serve as the foundation for the idea of resilience. Academic politics separate the fields of psychology and physiological research while also bringing them together by highlighting aspects of the human experience that are universal.

The foundation for the construct of resilience was set by observations of people dealing better than anticipated and actually getting better as a result of adversity, which were drawn from the psychological literature on stress and coping.

While the construct adopts a holistic, multilevel methodology akin to psychoneuroimmunology, resilience places more of an emphasis on success than on disease. Thus, despite having different focuses, both conceptions are connected.

Early research on resilience centered on the traits or variables that help people overcome hardship. You can categorize these findings into intrapersonal and environmental components. The identified intrapersonal variables include cognitive variables and particular abilities.

Examples of cognitive factors that have been shown to influence resilience levels include:

• optimism,

• humor,

• a belief system that offers existential meaning,

• a compelling life story, and

• an appreciation of one’s individuality are examples of cognitive factors.

A variety of coping mechanisms, social skills, academic prowess, and above-average memory are among the abilities that support resilience. It has also been suggested that physical attractiveness increases a person’s level of resilience.

The internal variables that result in increased levels of resilience may be thought of as internal protective factors and includes things such as:

• perceived social support,

• a feeling of connection, and

• life experiences are environmental factors that affect resilience.

Social support has been cited as a key component in a number of resilience-related domains. The process of maintaining relationships as well as the quantifiable amount of social resources are included in a simple definition. A person and their environment engage in a transaction when providing social assistance.

As a result, the definition of social support includes not only the quantity or kind of social ties but also how those relationships are perceived.

People who have a negative attitude towards the support being provided may push it away, receiving and perceiving less support as a result. A person is not merely a passive beneficiary of social support; rather, social support is a dynamic, reciprocal process. For instance, multiple research studies have shown that parental guidance has been strongly correlated to higher resilience levels in adolescents.

However, it these studies also show that over protection can also result in a lack of development of self-regulation and that this can then be linked to a reliance on substance abuse, anti-social behavior and lower levels of resilience in adulthood.

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Lessons to be Learned from the History of Resilience

Stress responses must now be understood as the results of previous events rather than as isolated incidents that evoke a response. Neuroendocrine and immunological responses that affect resilience and health are dynamically influenced by coping style patterns, personality traits, social support, and genetically determined biological reactivity with respect to an individual’s assessment of a stimulus.

Although the historical literature on resilience has advanced our knowledge of how people react under stress, much more research is still needed. Although the resilience industry has explored the many issues that have arisen over the years when looking at the characteristics of resilient people, as life evolves and the depth and breadth of the challenges that are faced daily expand, more research is required to examine the dynamic interplay of these traits.

To gain further insight into the dynamic nature of resilience, it is crucial to examine each person’s unique traits in greater detail. History shows that a one-size-fits-all solution isn’t effective and that resilience also depends on dynamic interaction.

A historical viewpoint promotes an understanding of the significance of a holistic viewpoint in building and maintaining resilience levels.

Using a holistic viewpoint will have an impact on how resilience is expressed, including the current context as well as the bigger contexts of age cohort, family history, social class, nation/culture, history, and gender.

For instance, in 1944, a middle-aged Japanese woman in a ‘internment camp’ for US citizens of Japanese heritage and a 20-year-old white American male storming the beach in Normandy would undoubtedly exhibit resilience in different ways.

The value of the idea of resilience is better understood when one takes into account a person’s greater social context. A holistic framework should be used in order to have this viewpoint.

The third and last lesson is to think about how many of history’s great people were trained. Sigmund Freud began his career as a neurologist, and Florence Nightengale focused on topics like hygiene, physical health, and social interactions. The experiences and viewpoints from a varied range of hobbies and education have tremendously benefitted the field of health promotion and sickness prevention.

The training and experiences needed by individuals in the current time will need to be varied as our society continues to become more complicated. The value of multidisciplinary teams and interdisciplinary training as components of professional education can only further our comprehension and use of the resilience concept.

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Case Study: Resilience in the Face of Nature

P&G, often known as Procter and Gamble Co., is a world leader in fast-moving consumer goods.

It has operations in 70 nations, sells goods in more than 180 nations, and employs about 95,000 people worldwide. Its revenues for the fiscal year that ended in June 2017 were €58,813 million, and its operating profit was €12,648 million.

The company’s stated goal is to enhance the lives of its customers by offering branded goods and services that are of the highest quality and value. The supply chain for Procter and Gamble is very complicated, both structurally and dynamically.

Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the New Orleans region in August 2005, disrupting every local supply chain. Due to write-offs of damaged inventory and repair expenditures, Folgers, a Procter & Gamble brand that produces coffee, was forced to cease its manufacturing and distribution operations, which had a negative impact on operating earnings of about 2%.

More than half of Folgers’ production, which was located in New Orleans, where the business had four production facilities, accounted for 40% of all coffee sold in the USA for domestic consumption. Two of them resided in Orleans Parish, which was among the regions most severely affected by the hurricane and flooding.

Damages caused by the hurricane to the largest plant totaled more than €10 million and prevented access to the facility. The equipment was compromised because the corporation, although having a shutdown mechanism in place, was unable to finish the shutdown protocol before the hurricane made landfall.

Despite the severity of the disaster, Procter and Gamble was able to immediately resume operations in a timely manner, in part because it had a current, well-rehearsed disaster recovery plan in place and some of its specific supply chain complexity factors also supported the steps that needed to be taken.

First, the company’s thorough business continuity strategy, which was created for each site and regularly practiced, helped it be ready to handle the incident.

Goods backup tapes were transmitted to the corporate office in Cincinnati, Ohio, distribution centers outside of New Orleans received the transfer of goods, and a process for shutting down the facilities was initiated.

The company’s extensive facility portfolio made the first two steps possible. The flexibility and collaboration among many sites were also favorably impacted by the internal supply chain’s structural complexity.

An engineering command post was created at a factory in Louisiana (225 miles north of New Orleans), and Cincinnati was designated as the command center for dealing with suppliers and engineering contractors.

Executives started rearranging timetables for local managers who lacked working computers as they worked on logistical problems. Other locations across the nation were able to resume production, and P&G’s businesses were also able to focus on providing employment to those who were directly affected and impacted by the disaster because they were able to continue their operations.

This was made possible by the company’s broad portfolio as well as the fact that many domestic manufacturing facilities were comparable and designed for many industries. Suppliers gave unwavering and priceless assistance with rehabilitation. To establish alternate supply channels and quicken the recovery process, they made available personnel, materials, and other resources.

In short, P&G used their extensive history and experience in the industry to create a plan that would allow the organization to be resilient in the face of disaster. That plan was current, well known, widely distributed and well-rehearsed so that when disaster they knew they had the skills in place to assist them in swinging into immediate action.

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Exercise 6.2: Using History to Create the Future

Break into 5 groups of 2 participants.

As a group:

Identify a future challenge you see for your organization. Write down the strengths and skills the organization will need to be able to deal with this challenge.

Appraise the strengths and skills the organization needs to be able to deal with this challenge:

What strengths and skills does the organization already have?

What strengths and skill doesn’t the organization have?

Brainstorm the future challenges the organization will face if they don’t acquire these strengths and skills?

Describe the barriers the organization will face.

How will these barriers make life more challenging?

What strategies can the organization apply to deal with these challenges? If you were to apply those strategies, and they ensured that there weren’t any strength or skills shortages for the future challenging situation, make a judgement on how successful you believe the outcome of the situation would be.

Share your answers with the main group.

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Course Manual 3: Resilient Businesses

Introduction

The term ‘business resilience’ refers to an organization’s capacity to quickly respond and adjust to setbacks or substantial, unforeseen changes that could endanger its operations, personnel, assets, brand, or reputation.

Why is business resilience important?

There is always a chance that a company will be disrupted. But the sheer number of challenges that organizations have faced globally in the last decade alone – particularly the global health crisis – have caused businesses all around the world to place a fresh and more intense emphasis on company resilience. Business executives and IT decision-makers increasingly understand that unexpected events can occur and should be prepared for.

The cornerstone of business continuity has historically been a prescriptive and reactive strategy. But company executives will need to embrace a new attitude that emphasizes the IT agility required to create business resilience if they are to effectively manage upcoming crises.

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What distinguishes business continuity from business resilience?

Business continuity is the ability of an organization to continue operations in the event of a disruption while still providing goods and services in a reasonable amount of time. A business continuity plan is a written document that provides instructions on how to react when there is a disruption.

Business resilience is the capacity of an organization to withstand stress, regain essential functionality, and prosper under novel conditions. In other words, it puts businesses in a position to be ready for everything.

IT has traditionally been the focus of company resilience. When a disruptive event, like a cyber-attack, occurred, it required making sure that apps and data would still be accessible and secure—as long as the interruption only lasted a few hours or days and only impacted people or facilities in a single area.

Now, a company’s IT operations cannot be the only aspect of business resilience. Organizations must be able to modify their operations in response to ongoing change and significant events in order to survive and prosper.

It is only in more recent times that companies have started to understand the real requirement of business resilience or business continuity plans. The 2020 global pandemic taught the world that major events can persist for years, cause lengthy travel delays, and force permanent changes to how a company functions and where its personnel are located.

Fast adaptability is now a key indicator of business success. As a result, a set of key questions has started to arise for organizations to ensure they have the right plans in place to de-risk business recovery if it is ever required.

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Some of these key questions are things like:

• What would happen if the company had a setback or harm that prevented it from carrying out regular business activities for a lengthy period of time? Risks might include everything from supply chain management to significant property damage and workforce loss.

• How will the company make sure that applications and data are always available and accessible?

• Which tactics should be used, and which resources need to be coordinated?

Another key factor for organizations to consider is that of the security of their personnel. Things to consider here include:

• In the case of a catastrophe or significant disruption, is the company able to monitor the health, safety, and availability of both remote and on-site employees?

• What safety regulations ought to be in place, and how ought they to be announced?

• Which training is required to ensure all personnel know what they need to do in the event of a disaster?

• How will the company continue to encourage employee safety when they return to work following a disruptive event? For instance, as the health crisis continues, several organizations are spending money on technology to aid individuals in maintaining social distance and conducting contact tracing.

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Minimizing financial loss is a significant factor to consider both from an organizational point of view and from the point of view of making sure that personnel can continue to be supported.

The danger of financial loss increases with the length of time a business is unable to conduct normal operations. Business resilience planning should take into account the systems, processes, and personnel that are most crucial to mission-critical operations in order to reduce that risk.

It should also include a plan for quickly restoring those systems’ functionality.

As part of any resilience planning process, an organization may also want to consider the following issues:

• What can we do to safeguard our reputation and brand?

• How may crisis decision-making be optimized in business?

• How can we continue to provide our services to clients and partners not only after a disruption but also in light of evolving consumer demands and trends?

• What strategies can we employ to improve IT agility and provide the best possible application experience.

Resilient businesses plan for continuity in the face of a disaster, however they also plan for how they are going to embrace the demands that future business will bring.

Being able to adjust to both rapid interruptions and gradual but significant change defines business resilience. This may entail investing in new technology and collaborative tools in order to transform workplace cultures and workflows.

It also involves building up cyber resilience, whether it’s understanding how best to secure a remote or hybrid workforce or creating simpler but more effective cybersecurity practices for the organization.

Looking at ways to utilize several cloud service providers to help improve business resilience and reduce the risk of downtime and service interruptions. Agility is the ability to switch between cloud services and scale up or down services based on demand. Organizations can bring new IT infrastructure online in minutes and rapidly provision computing resources to users working from anywhere.

As part of reimagining and redesigning the workforce and workplace, organizations need to make sure that their IT infrastructure is also resilient. This includes having the ability to provide highly secure virtual desktops to all workers, wherever they are located, and to optimize on-premises and cloud resources continuously to maintain performance and control costs.

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The Resilience Imperative

The need to increase organizational resilience has never been greater.

The pace of change in the globe is accelerating, unpredictable, and unprecedented. However, businesses across all sectors have mostly continued to concentrate on short- and medium-term earnings, assuming constant favorable economic circumstances.

Disasters will happen more frequently, but they won’t be as predictable. They will develop more quickly, yet in more different ways. Geopolitical unpredictability, the digital and technological revolution, and climate change will all have a significant impact.

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The speed at which decisions are made, the amount of connectivity, and the accessibility of data have all increased thanks to the digital revolution. This has the potential to be transformative, but it also carries the risk of widespread failure, security breaches, and a quick cascade of consequences. Additionally, it accelerates the rate at which a business’s standing with customers and staff might shift.

The risk-return profiles of organizations are undergoing fundamental changes as a result of the changing environment, which will accelerate nonlinearly. Companies must balance pressures from regulators, investors, and society at large with concerns for their immediate financial health. Natural disasters are becoming more frequent and severe throughout this time.

In the background is a geopolitical future that is unknown. From transportation to information flow, supply chains to tourism, the world is more connected than ever. However, these connections are in danger, and the majority of businesses have not planned their roles in the global system for robustness, so that they can continue operating normally even if connections are suddenly severed.

Companies need to go beyond short-term success and fundamental organizational health in a world where the future is unclear and change occurs quickly. They need to be able to face unpredictability in threat or change while yet emerging stronger. They must, in essence, be resilient.

Resilience, therefore, needs to take on a broad scale focus that goes well beyond just looking at the finances.

Companies cannot afford to be either prudent or rigid. Those who are unwilling to take enough risk will not adapt or innovate to deal with changing conditions. However, individuals who are overly concerned with profits, expansion, or growth could take on risks that endanger their long-term success.

When disruptions happen, ‘surprise gaps’ are revealed despite the fact that industries have established specialized resilience capabilities and organizations need to not only understand this factor, but to be agile enough to move quickly to cover the gaps that open when they occur.

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Resilience Models

Any workplace will experience change and stress, especially during periods of unpredictability and instability.

If change and stress are a given, then the organization must shift its focus on to how they can overcome obstacles and setbacks.

With the aid of various models and strategies, resilience within an organization may be developed and training can be provided so that resilience levels within the individuals of the organization can be learnt and enhanced.

Resilience is the capacity to adapt to adversity and recover from problems. There are a number of successful resilience models that can aid in the development of emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and constructive coping mechanisms in both you and your staff.

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The Four C’s Model

Competence, confidence, connection, and contribution are the four main tenets of the Four C’s concept, created by Nan Henderson and Mike Milstein:

• Competence is the ability to handle various situations thanks to your knowledge and skills.

• Confidence means having faith in one’s own value and talents.

• Connection is a feeling of support and belonging from others.

• The sense of making a difference and giving back to your community is known as contribution.

You and your team may develop resilience and overcome obstacles by improving these four C’s.

A useful framework for assisting diverse teams in navigating change is provided by the 4 Cs concept. Competence promotes inclusion by enabling team members to value and accept the variety of abilities, views, and information that each person brings to the table. Regardless of cultural or ethnic differences, credibility guarantees that team members follow their promises and exhibit fairness and integrity.

As a result of connection, teams are better able to close gaps and promote understanding in the face of change by encouraging open communication, collaboration, and active listening. Last but not least, compassion places a strong emphasis on empathy and emotional intelligence, enabling team members to manage cultural and identity differences with understanding and support.

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The ABCDE Model

Martin Seligman’s ABCDE model is a cognitive-behavioral strategy that enables you and your staff to reframe unfavorable thoughts and emotions that may be detrimental to resilience. Adversity, belief, consequence, dispute, and energize make up the acronym ABCDE:

• Adversity is the demanding circumstance or incident that causes a response.

• Belief is the way in which an event is interpreted or explained.

• The emotional and behavioral reaction to a belief is called a consequence.

• Using logic and evidence to refute and alter a belief is the process of disputation.

• After challenging the belief, you will feel more upbeat and confident, which will energize you.

You and your team can develop better coping mechanisms for change and stress by using this model.

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The 7 C’s Model

The seven Cs model, developed by Kenneth Ginsburg, is a thorough framework that concentrates on the developmental requirements of kids and teenagers but may also be used with adults.

Competence, self-assurance, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control are the 7 C’s. Similar to the Four C’s paradigm, competence, confidence, connection, and contribution place a stronger emphasis on moral development and ethical behavior. Coping is the capacity to utilize wholesome and beneficial stress-reduction techniques, such as relaxation, humor, and problem-solving. Control is the awareness of your own freedom and accountability for your decisions and actions.

You and your workers can improve resilience and wellbeing by promoting these 7 C’s.

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The HERO Model

Hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism are the four psychological resources identified by the HERO model, which was created by Fred Luthans and his colleagues as a positive psychology method:

• Hope is the anticipation and drive to accomplish your objectives.

• Efficacy is the ability to execute well under pressure and with confidence.

• The ability to overcome hardship and grow from failure is resilience.

• The propensity to think positively and realistically about the future is called optimism.

You and your team can boost resilience and performance by developing these HERO resources.

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The RAIN Model

You and your team can deal with challenging emotions and thoughts that can undermine resilience by using the RAIN model, which Tara Brach popularized. Recognize, Allow, Investigate, and Nurture is referred to as RAIN:

• To admit and name what you are experiencing or thinking is to ‘recognise’.

• Allow refers to allowing something to happen without objecting or passing judgement.

• Investigate implies to look into and comprehend the reasons behind your feelings and thoughts.

• To nurture someone else or oneself means to treat them with care and compassion.

You and your team can improve your emotional intelligence and self-awareness by using this methodology.

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The Principles Model of Resilience

The principles model is built on six fundamental principles and is derived from common features that show up when comparing resilience across several disciplines:

Resilience is the outcome of deliberate analysis, development, planning and training.

A method, management system, strategy, or predictive measurement cannot be used to define resilience. It most definitely does not mean the same thing as business continuity or emergency management, despite the fact that both of these can be significant factors in resilience. Instead, resilience is a quality that can be shown after, and in reaction to, a significant change in circumstances.

Being resilient is a dynamic quality. Resilience cannot be measured or scored in a way that describes it as a constant quality. The resilience of an organization will fluctuate in response to external environment volatility and as organizational capabilities evolve over time. Resilience is dynamic; when the context shifts, it will either rise or fall.

Being resilient is not just one thing. Resilience emerges from the intricate interaction of numerous elements. The presence, significance, and relative contributions of each of these components to resilience will alter as circumstances change.

Resilience comes in many forms. There isn’t currently a single model that perfectly captures resilience; each one has its flaws, some more obvious than others. The more accurate models each describe different facets of resilience from different angles.

There is resilience in a variety of circumstances. From low resilience (vulnerable) to high resilience (resilient), resilience can occur in a variety of settings. This range of resilience can be seen among various organizations dealing with the same incident, inside one organization dealing with various sorts of events or over various time periods, or internally among various organizational functions.

An organization should see an increase in the maturity of its resilience capabilities as it focuses on and invests in improving it, starting from a low end, highly reactive state (such as a simple emergency response, such as an evacuation), improving capabilities through proactive preparedness (for example, having in place incident response and business continuity capabilities), and ultimately achieving a state where it is adaptive to conditions of high uncertainty.

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Effective risk management is the foundation of resilience. Organizations rarely exhibit resilience by chance. Their strategy for fostering resilience will be built around a sound assessment, management, and communication of risk.

These guidelines lay the groundwork for the development and assessment of further conceptual resilience frameworks or models. Applying these principles immediately reveals where many existing resilience frameworks, especially those static frameworks that also assert the ability to deliver a measure of resilience, are wrong.

Numerous methods now in use to gauge organizational resilience make the assumption that gathering data on a variety of organizational characteristics in a consistent setting will yield a reliable indicator of resilience. However, depending on the circumstances the organization is facing, each attribute may really work differently and contribute to resilience to a different extent.

These models are, at best, gauging the organization’s capacity for resilience because resilience results from an entity’s interaction with its environment. An organization’s resilience will be determined by how this variety of resilience skills interact with a changing context.

The setting of an organization may have both positive and negative effects on these resilience qualities, resulting in a range of potential outcomes ranging from high to low resilience. How an organization monitors, comprehends, and manages the risks it encounters will determine how it responds to such unpredictability in its context over time.

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Case Study: McKinsey – How Global Companies can Manage Geopolitical Risk

Global businesses may proactively manage the risks that rising political polarization poses to their performance, culture, and operations.

Businesses are balancing on a geopolitical precipice. Political tensions inside and between areas are more likely to have an impact on a global enterprise’s operations, performance, or workforce as tensions develop.

The difficulties that geopolitical concerns bring about will worsen. The struggle for global sway will certainly intensify over the course of the few decades, exceeding only the tensions experienced around the world during the Cold War.

This conclusion can be found in the publication Global Trends 2040: A more disputed world by the US National Intelligence Council. A wider spectrum of actors will compete to further their beliefs, aspirations, and interests, the paper claims, and no one area is likely to dominate all regions or domains.

The rivalry between China and the United States, which at different times has escalated, is the place where the effects of the current geopolitical tensions are most obvious. 76 of the top 100 most valuable corporations in the world are located in these two nations.

Many multinational corporations are looking for their own type of ‘strategic autonomy’ to manage China-US ties, channeling the policy discussions taking place in the European Union.

China’s president Xi Jinping has referred to technology in particular as the ‘main battleground of global power rivalry’.

This leaves global organizations in the position of needing to think about how to take advantage of technologies like 5G and AI without being hit by geopolitically motivated regulatory or reputational backlash.

Corporate leaders are subject to additional internal pressures as a result of such external forces. The leaders of a company may have to consider the impact that governmental or media scrutiny of the company’s operations in one location has on its holdings in other locations depending on the situation.

Given the hazards, they might need to strike a balance between short- and long-term market interests. Additionally, they could have to deal with a diverse staff that holds opposing opinions on matters like data privacy and human rights.

Such potentially existential topics demand that any conversation begin at the top. To combat this, McKinsey proposes that business leaders might apply a five-pronged strategy to manage geopolitical risk after speaking with top corporate executives and legal, public-policy, and risk professionals from Fortune 500 businesses in various industries.

Begin with the board

Geopolitical risks are already debated to varying degrees by many corporate boards. However, the arguments frequently center on a particular project, investment, or market entry or exit. They consequently neglect to consider the larger strategic environment, the whole spectrum of risk scenarios and repercussions, or important decision-making points.

Instead, as part of a larger board effort to create more resilient businesses, boards can set aside regular standing time to study how to respond to the geopolitical risks that their companies confront. In the current geopolitical environment, avoiding such debates would be unethical.

Assessing the risks that are most important to a firm is one method to start moving in a more strategic direction. The board of the company can use a materiality test to determine what matters are worth talking about. For instance, the Iran nuclear negotiations have important regional and international ramifications. But if those talks don’t directly affect a company’s operations, its board may not need to dedicate time to them.

On the other hand, the majority of multinational corporations continuously manage a variety of localized geopolitical risks. Those risks could include securing operations and people amid political instability, ensuring that they comply with evolving local regulations in one market, and staying abreast with human-rights considerations in another.

The strategic rivalry between China and the United States will likely be at the top of many businesses’ lists of ongoing risk concerns. A board could begin such a conversation with a baseline assessment that includes the following:

Boards can gain perspective by soliciting outside opinions on relevant topics from business and political leaders, embassies and other government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Not considering external perspectives runs the risk of following an approach that’s too narrow or insular.

Providing a regular forum for a board to examine pressure points and operating realities from multiple perspectives and air diverging views doesn’t just improve decision making and establish an organization’s appetite for risk—it helps create consensus across leadership on the issues of the day. Such a consensus can create a set of guiding principles—and, as importantly, a set of trust-based relationships and mutual understanding across the organization—that enables rapid, purposeful reaction grounded in a shared set of priorities when risk scenarios play out.

Providing a regular forum for a board to examine pressure points and operating realities from multiple perspectives and air diverging views doesn’t just improve decision making and establish an appetite for risk—it helps create consensus across leadership on the issues.

Use a trifocal lens to assess potential risks

Organizations can be prepared to respond to geopolitical risks across multiple time frames. Creating short-term, midterm, and long-term response strategies ensures that a company can not only handle a fast-changing situation or emergency but also make the investments needed to seize opportunities and become more resilient.

Short-term actions

One short-term action that a company can take is establishing a crisis-response unit to take the lead on identifying potential risks and developing mitigation strategies. Such a unit could, for example, analyze political events that threaten to disrupt the company’s operations materially or prepare responses to government inquiries into sensitive topics.

Another short-term action is to invest in strategy, PR, and government-relations teams that can serve as the company’s points of contact with senior government officials and key stakeholders in multiple jurisdictions. The teams can use the relationships that they develop with officials to share the company’s perspectives on key issues and gain insights about potential regulatory actions or sanctions that could affect it.

Mid-term actions

Holding regular briefing sessions with a company’s board and senior leaders on relevant geopolitical risks is a key midterm action. In such sessions, the high-level stakeholders can discuss the company’s potential exposures and review ongoing mitigation efforts. Discussions can focus on three risk areas: brand and reputation; operational issues, such as cybersecurity strategy; and products, services, and partnerships.

Long-term actions

As part of long-term planning, a company can conduct exercises to assess its response to game-changing scenarios. One test could explore the conditions in which the company may be compelled to ring-fence its IT infrastructure (to protect against cyberattacks or comply with regulatory requirements) or split off its business in a particular region. Such a test would include a time frame for execution and possible technical options.

Long-term planning can also cover such issues as the following:

• the most significant opportunities and challenges created by a constantly evolving geopolitical landscape and the investments or adjustments needed to address them.

• potential unintended consequences from taking a particular risk position.

• key takeaways from how peer companies responded to similar shock situations.

Think critically about the corporate narrative

For both internal and external stakeholders, walking a geopolitical tightrope may cause leaders to redefine how they think about and position their companies. Some may, for commercial and strategic reasons, choose to strengthen ties to the countries where the companies are based. Others may opt to identify as global entities because of the access it accords them to pursue business opportunities in emerging markets. But in the age of instant information, the story a company tells about itself in one market won’t stay there. And a narrative that works in one place could inhibit market opportunities in another or create sensitivities among regions.

Part of managing geopolitical risk is considering the ramifications of a company’s core narrative. Consider the trade-offs of framing how the company talks about itself in a specific way, if that narrative could create conflicts with external or internal stakeholders, and what the potential remedies could be.

Part of managing geopolitical risk is considering the ramifications of a company’s core narrative. Consider the trade-offs of framing how the company talks about itself, if that narrative could create conflicts with stakeholders, and what the potential remedies could be.

Deploy refreshed risk frameworks and guidelines

If companies operate in markets that are high risk because of political instability or the threat of international sanctions, they can develop market-specific assessments or ‘compacts’ that fuse corporate strategy and risk management.

Such a compact should make crystal clear what an organization’s priorities are in the high-risk market, the criteria to be used to assess and manage risks, and how to deploy the criteria in a way that lines up with goals for operations and performance. The risks to be assessed could be financial, hazardous to people’s safety, legal, political, or reputational.

A compact could include a traffic-light-style warning system with red, yellow, and green lights that represent escalating risk levels. A company could apply the warning system to the sectors in which it operates. It could also apply the system to the entities with which it does business, separating those with which a local office can work without needing additional approval from those that need risk approval and those with which an office should never work with.

Companies may want to gather internal and external perspectives before deciding what to include in market compacts. They could seek information or direction from embassies, international financial institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and peer organizations. Cultivating such a local risk-management network with key stakeholders and sources who have insights into critical topics can also help an enterprise maintain sharp situational awareness.

Secure stakeholders’ hearts and minds

Geopolitics is personal. A large organization is likely to have stakeholders with differing cultural reference points and opinions on issues such as human rights and privacy. And differences can dissolve into disagreements about risk and strategy.

People may worry that a company will hold itself to different standards in different regions. In a world where nationalistic sentiments are on the rise, no country dominates, and regulations and standards are fragmenting, such situations are bound to accelerate.

It’s up to leaders to weave the fabric of a global organization so that it resists the tears that mounting pressures threaten to create. Leaders can cultivate cohesiveness by bringing key stakeholders to the table to share views on a given engagement or project. In such discussions, it’s of utmost importance to make sure that all affected geographic regions are represented. Otherwise, internal fissures can build and burst in a way that damages culture, reputation, and performance.

As the former Intel CEO Andy Grove famously put it, ‘Only the paranoid survive’.

With tectonic shifts in geopolitics rumbling from China’s reemergence on the global stage, a climate crisis, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, companies must be on guard. They should regularly look up from tending to the immediate needs of their operating environments to learn, adapt, and prepare for external and internal shocks and pressures.

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Exercise 6.3: Resilient Businesses

Break into 2 groups of 3 participants and 1 group of 4 participants.

As a group, answer the following questions:

What would happen if the company had a setback or harm that prevented it from carrying out regular business activities for a lengthy period of time? Risks might include everything from supply chain management to significant property damage and workforce loss.

How will the company make sure that applications and data are always available and accessible?

Which tactics should be used, and which resources need to be coordinated?

In the case of a catastrophe or significant disruption, is the company able to monitor the health, safety, and availability of both remote and on-site employees?

What safety regulations ought to be in place, and how ought they to be announced?

Which training is required to ensure all personnel know what they need to do in the event of a disaster?

How will the company continue to encourage employee safety when they return to work following a disruptive event? For instance, as the health crisis continues, several organizations are spending money on technology to aid individuals in maintaining social distance and conducting contact tracing.

Which systems, processes and personnel are the most crucial to mission-critical operations in the organization?

Is there a business resilience plan in place to secure these operations?

What can we do to safeguard our reputation and brand?

How may crisis decision-making be optimized in business?

How can we continue to provide our services to clients and partners not only after a disruption but also in light of evolving consumer demands and trends?

What strategies can we employ to improve IT agility and provide the best possible application experience.

Share your answers with the main group.

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Course Manual 4: Resilient People

Introduction

Resilience is the capacity to endure adversity and grow through challenges. It’s a skill you acquire through time from collecting knowledge and wisdom from your experiences as you mature through life and overcome obstacles.

In order to be resilient, you have to learn to deal with stress and mental health issues, ask for assistance when necessary, and adjust, grow and develop in the face of them.

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Why is it crucial that we have resilience?

Because if you have resilience, you can overcome your obstacles and even use them to your advantage.

While resilience won’t make your problems disappear or even solve them, it will undoubtedly aid in the way you cope and adapt in the situation you are experiencing.

Life isn’t always linear. You don’t always have everything going wonderfully or everything challenging you at the one time. It’s often a mix of both. If you are resilient, it allows you to experience the pleasant things in life whilst at the same time experiencing the impact that challenges are bringing you. Resilience gives you the ability to minimize the impact that the challenges impose on your day-to-day experiences. With resilience, your focus becomes about dealing with your challenges by developing effective coping mechanisms.

How does someone become resilient? Resilient behavior can be influenced by a variety of variables, such as personality traits, upbringing, genetics, environmental conditions, and social support. Learn the traits of resilient people and when and how to ask for assistance in developing resilience if you want to become more resilient.

Being resilient is meeting challenges head-on rather than giving in to despair or employing unhealthy coping mechanisms. The mental reserve of strength that enables people to cope with stress and adversity is frequently described as resilience.

These resources are available to resilient people, who can use them to deal with difficulties and bounce back. That holds true even when people experience grave traumas like job loss, financial difficulties, critical sickness, marital troubles, or the loss of a loved one.

Understanding that adversities are a part of life is another aspect of resilience. Many of these issues are beyond our control, yet we may still stay adaptable, flexible, and open-minded.

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The Big 5 Character Traits of Resilient People

Often referred to as OCEAN (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism) or CANOE (conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness and extraversion), the ‘Big 5’ character traits are widely recognized within the psychology field as being present in every individual in differing levels.

Long-standing trait theories of personality have sought to determine the precise number of qualities that exist within individuals; different numbers have been proposed by earlier theories. For instance, Raymond Cattell identified 16 personality components, while Gordon Allport provided a list of 4,000 personality qualities, and Hans Eysenck proposed a three-factor theory.

Many academics believed that Cattell’s theory was very complex and Eysenck’s was too constrained. In order to characterize the broad features that act as the foundation of personality, the Big 5 personality traits were proposed by a number of researchers between 1949 and 1987 with the industry generally adopting the Big 5 thereafter.

It’s crucial to keep in mind that each of the five main personality qualities lies somewhere between two extremes. Extraversion, for instance, is a continuum that ranges from severe extraversion to extreme introversion. Most people in the world actually fall somewhere in the middle of this continuum.

Although these core personality qualities are well supported by a large body of literature, researchers aren’t always in agreement on the precise names for each dimension. However, these five characteristics are typically explained as follows.

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Openness

Of the five personality qualities, openness (also known as openness to experience) places the greatest emphasis on imagination and intuition. High-openness personality types frequently have a diverse range of interests. They are enthused to learn new things and relish new experiences because they are curious about the world and other people.

High performers in this personality attribute also frequently exhibit greater creativity and spontaneity. Conversely, those who score poorly on this personality attribute tend to be considerably more conventional and may have trouble thinking abstractly.

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Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness is a personality attribute characterized by high degrees of thinking, effective impulse control, and goal-directed behaviors.

People that are highly conscientious are usually well-organized and attentive to details. They are organized, considerate of others’ feelings, and deadline conscious.

A person with a lower primary personality attribute score is less organized and structured. To finish tasks, they might put them off, perhaps completely missing deadlines.

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Extraversion

Extraversion, often known as extroversion, is a personality attribute characterized by high levels of emotional expressiveness, talkativeness, friendliness, and excitability.

Extraverted individuals are gregarious and exude enthusiasm in social settings. They are energized and delighted when they are around other people.

Those who score low on this personality trait or who are introverted typically exhibit greater reserve. They are less able to exert themselves in social situations, and social gatherings can be exhausting. Introverts always need some time alone and quiet to ‘recharge’.

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Agreeableness

Trustworthiness, benevolence, friendliness, affection, and other prosocial traits are included in this personality trait.

Individuals with high levels of agreeableness are more likely to be cooperative, whereas individuals with low levels of this personality trait are more likely to be aggressive and occasionally even manipulative.

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Neuroticism

Sadness, irritability, and emotional instability are characteristics of neuroticism, a personality trait.

High neurotic people frequently experience mood swings, anxiety, impatience, and melancholy. People who score lower on this personality trait tend to be more emotionally stable and resilient.

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10 Qualities of a Resilient Person

Now that we have a basic understanding of what constitutes a resilient person, as well as their attributes, causes, and warning signs, let’s examine the ten characteristics of a resilient person.

1. Embracing a growth mindset

A growth mindset sees challenges as chances to advance.

You can be far more resilient than the other guy thanks to that shift in perspective.

2. Introspection

People with resilience are self-aware.

Resilient people are better able to develop effective coping mechanisms for stress when they are self-aware of their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.

3. Being truthful

A resilient person would never maintain a façade of false optimism or denial. Being resilient entails recognizing reality and making sure you do something about it.

4. Resilience

Another quality of resilient people is that they don’t accept ‘no’ for an answer. It’s critical to realize that resilience isn’t only about change; it’s also about tenacity and standing up for what you believe in.

To be resilient, you may occasionally need to demonstrate tenacity and stick to your values.

5. Possessing an internal ‘Locus of Control’

When you have an internal locus of control, you don’t blame external factors for where you are in life; instead, you search for personal growth opportunities and places where you can improve.

6. Distancing oneself from self-centered feelings

When it comes to being detached from their egoistic whims, fantasies, and negative thoughts, resilient people are like Zen masters.

Resilient people have that much mental room to avoid getting lured into the ego’s negative thoughts thanks to detachment from the ego. They often save themselves a lot of mental stress by doing this.

7. Healthy hopefulness

Resilience can be strengthened through optimism that doesn’t veer too far towards wishful thinking.

The thing that gives one hope when they are going through a difficult moment is optimism.

8. Having compassion towards oneself

It will eventually result in a downward spiral towards sadness, stress, and concern if you engage in negative self-talk, place the blame for your problems on yourself, and continuously criticize yourself.

People that are resilient have compassion for themselves and believe they can overcome their obstacles.

9. Having a support system

You can rely on your friends and family as a support system. People that support you when you’re going through a difficult period.

They may be able to give words of support and inspiration to help you get back on track.

10. Examining your options

Another quality that distinguishes a resilient person is the ability to weigh your choices before making a choice.

They are able to logically evaluate their circumstances and contemplate options because they have the necessary psychological space.

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What makes some people more resilient than others?

How resilient we are has a big impact on how we handle difficult situations or traumatic events. Resilience is the capacity to bounce back from challenging situations and failures, to adapt, to proceed, and occasionally even to experience progress.

Genetics, past experiences, environment, and the context of a given circumstance all have a role in determining an individual’s resilience. According to research to yet, the genetic component is only a minor factor.

According to Karestan Koenen, a Professor of psychiatric epidemiology at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, there are personality characteristics that are genetically influenced but when it comes to resiliency traits, it appears that a person’s history is far more significant.

The strength of our interpersonal relationships, particularly with parents and primary carers, is the most important factor of resilience, as stated in almost every review or study of resilience in the previous 50 years. Human adaptability is greatly influenced by early relationships with parents and last a lifetime.

Bassel van der Kolk, Professor psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and an expert in post traumatic stress since the 1970’s, agrees with Koenen and has been known to state that ‘… how loved you felt as a child is a great predictor of how you manage all kinds of difficult situations later in life’.

Long-term research, according to Dr. van der Kolk, indicates that the first 20 years of life were particularly crucial. Our perceptions, interpretations, and expectations are all impacted differently by different traumas at different ages; these early experiences shape the brain because it is a use-dependent organ.

Resilience can be viewed as a collection of abilities that can be taught and are frequently done so. Exposure to extremely challenging but manageable experiences contributes to the skill-building process.

What tools we have in our resilience toolbox determines how we cope. Some people’s toolboxes are stocked with drugs, while others may use alcohol, overindulge in food, gamble, or shop. However, they do not support resilience.

Instead, optimism (that is also realistic), a moral compass, religious or spiritual convictions, cognitive and emotional flexibility, and social connectivity are the traits shared by resilient people. People who typically don’t concentrate on the bad and who look for chances that might exist even in the most difficult circumstances are the most resilient among us. A strong individual might decide that the moment is right to begin a meditation routine, enrol in an online course, or pick up the guitar while they are in quarantine, for instance.

According to research, the capacity for flexibility in thought and commitment to a worthwhile cause or a belief in something higher than oneself, whether religiously or spiritually, both contribute to resilience.

Many, many people who are resilient learn to accept what they can’t change with great care before assessing what they can genuinely alter. On the other hand, you lose your ability to deal if you keep beating your head against the wall and worry nonstop about how helpless you are.

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8 Things Resilient People Commonly Do

With their well-organized lives and organized ideas, resilient people may appear to be a completely different species, but they actually share a lot of attitudes and behaviors.

They continue to be adaptable and open-minded.

Making the most of what may initially appear to be the worst is the essence of resilience. This entails remaining receptive to fresh perspectives, chances, and solutions. Avoid thinking exclusively in one approach or prematurely discounting alternative possibilities in order to avoid boxing oneself in.

Before drawing conclusions or entering worst-case scenarios, give yourself some breathing room, time, and the chance to consider all the options. When you give yourself some more time, you could be astonished at the innovative ideas and solutions you can come up with.

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They exhibit kindness and patience.

Resilient people are renowned for their generosity and patience, whether it be in the office or among friends. Being resilient is all about having the strength and capacity to bounce back and deal with challenges in a healthy way. So, when things don’t go your way, strive to maintain your composure.

Before attempting to handle the problem, you might want to try some breathing techniques or take a moment to relax. Try to keep in mind that being kind is more essential than winning or being “right” above all else. This involves being kind to yourself in general or when you make mistakes. It’s equally vital to be kind and patient with oneself as it is with others.

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They are typically upbeat.

Of course, nobody is ever upbeat. We have all experienced days when it seemed as though everything was out to get us. Being resilient, though, necessitates having perspective. Even if there are negative moments throughout the day, things may have gone smoothly overall.

Focus on life’s numerous blessings rather than one negative incident by trying not to dwell on it. For instance, instead of dwelling on all their flaws, many resilient people choose to give gratitude for their friends, family, and assets. This perspective is crucial for being resilient, but it may also make you happier in general.

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They are present-day people.

While it’s important to learn from your mistakes and history, the past cannot be changed. We frequently get caught up in regretful and embarrassing circumstances from the past, wondering what may have been. Focusing on your mistakes won’t make them go away and can wind up hurting you more than helping.

People who are truly resilient accept what has happened and concentrate on what they can accomplish now. Even though it can be challenging, beginning the process of moving on is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

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They value and cultivate positive relationships.

Having a network of supporters is crucial. not just for tough times, but for life in general. Your highs and lows are both elevated by friends, family, and other people, if not just somewhat. Recognizing this, resilient people take the additional time required to develop relationships with the people in their lives.

Although it can need a bit more awareness and consideration, relationships with other people are ultimately priceless.

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They are conscious of their limitations.

Although having a strong work ethic can be a component of resilience, resilient people are also aware of when they need assistance. Resilience is frequently misconstrued with having a superhuman work ethic. Nobody is flawless, and nobody can accomplish everything on their own. Everyone has blind spots and vulnerabilities, even resilient people.

It’s up to you to identify them and get assistance if necessary. Help can take many different forms, like talking to trusted friends, taking a break, or just overall taking good care of yourself. It’s never a good idea to work yourself to the bone, and occasionally, it takes a very resilient person to acknowledge you can’t do it all.

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They are able to tolerate rejection and come up with alternatives.

Any kind of rejection can be painful. Rejection comes in all shapes and sizes, from not getting the job you applied for to your crush not like you back. Even though you may occasionally feel unworthy, this is not the case. It is almost never personal because there are frequently a variety of other factors at play, such as other job applications or someone else’s feelings.

People with resilience are aware of this and work hard to avoid letting rejection win. Everyone is naturally disappointed when they are rejected, but the most important thing is to try again, whether that means submitting an application for a different job or looking for a partner who will accept you for who you are.

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They enjoy being by themselves.

Many resilient people like their alone time as a means of processing events, reflecting, or getting to know themselves better. Spending some time by yourself to process any issues that are bothering you can frequently help you sort out your feelings and any potential courses of action.

One of the best ways to learn is to reflect on experiences and learn from them, and setting aside some time alone to do this may be quite helpful. You might learn things about your inner self that you hadn’t anticipated!

Constantly being resilient is challenging and requires practice, much like most things in life. If it’s not something you can use right away, don’t be hard on yourself. The best method to learn resilience might be to take baby steps and build resilience over time. Just trying to be resilient in this crazy world is enough.

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Case Study: Resilient Leadership

A family firm had undergone a power transition, and the newly appointed CEO need to create some tactics to persuade, enlist, and include her family board.

Despite her persuasive intentions to take the organization to the next level, the board preferred ‘business as usual’. However, the new CEO understood that too much had changed in the last 40 years – the planet, the economy, and the workforce – for ‘business as usual’ to be effective, and that it wouldn’t allow the family business to survive, let alone thrive.

Like most family businesses, this business faced some of the key issues that arise with instances of family members running the enterprise:

• Nepotism occurs when relatives hold important positions for which they are unqualified.

• When only family members hold important positions, there is a lack of diversity and no other viewpoints are brought in.

• When critical positions are filled by individuals with little to no background in enterprises other than the family one, tunnel vision results.

These difficulties all result in large biases, which can all be removed to support the success of the organization.

There were nine seats on the company board, all of which were filled by family members. Five board members had no background in business. For more than 25 years, they had been receiving yearly dividends in the six figures. One of the first things the new CEO had to do was to give the board members confidence that their dividends would be maintained while she developed the business.

Another massive issue that created an obstacle was that even though the transition meant that the ‘kids’ were now in charge, the previous CEO (who was their father) persisted in interfering, micromanaging, and even discussing sensitive corporate matters at his golf club. He had resigned as CEO because he wanted to be retired and uninvolved, but he also wanted to matter. To allow him to have both, the new CEO had to devise a plan.

Some family members who weren’t really qualified for the positions were given them under duress from the CEO. As the board had voting power to appoint senior and executive management positions, situations occurred where younger family members were placed in a position of power that they were ill-equipped to handle.

The outcome? Smart individuals were making poor choices, and those with extensive experience who should have had control were either excluded or had their influence reduced. The new CEO understood that to steer the organization forward in a new way meant that it was time to change this.

Taking Action

It was necessary to let go of resistance and create new significance. The ‘kids’ needed to come out of the shadow of their ‘elders’ and feel more comfortable expressing their opinions – even just being in front of their charismatic, larger-than-life father. They had to use skills for establishing rapport with self, creating new meaning, and anchoring the desired outcome in order to do this.

The board needed to be taken on the journey of the new focus and operational imperative that the organization required to move forward, but in a way that honored their contribution to where the company had gotten to and acknowledging the importance of their wisdom to help guide the new direction.

A structure was put in place to make sure that decisions for the business would be made on the basis of ROI instead of voting being done on historical grievance lines and alliances.

These changes allowed the board to get on track with a three-year plan, which then enabled the CEO to launch a recruiting effort to fill the organization with the talent required to meet the outcomes of the plan.

How The Organization Benefited

The CEO showed extraordinary personal resilience to navigate the emotional terrain of modernizing a family business that was stuck in its ways.

The leaders of the organization continued to communicate with the board members in a way that honored their experience and wisdom which helped reduced fear and turbulence during the transition. The clear path, plan, and budget certainly helped the board and family buy-in.

The board received monthly updates for the first year, and then quarterly for the second year onward. The outgoing CEO was given the title Chairman Emeritus so he could continue to bask in the success that the kids were creating.

The resilience shown by the CEO to navigate these tricky waters saw the company enjoy the greatest growth to date – 20 percent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) – after the first year of working in the new framework.

A key component of this was the promotion of several ‘old timers’ into mentoring roles so the ‘young bucks’ could bring the wisdom of the past forward into the present.

Now the emails that the ‘kids’ receive from their father and the board celebrate the company’s wins, and the kids even receive verbal praise now and then at board meetings. The board is smiling instead of scowling and supporting instead of micromanaging.

Most importantly, a culture of personal resilience has been remodeled from the top of the organization and now underpins the way everything is done.

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Exercise 6.4: Creating Realistic Optimism

Break into 5 groups of 2 participants.

As individuals, answer the following questions:

Make a list of all the good things, people, places and thoughts you have. Anything that enriches, gives significance to, or brings meaning, love, joy, laughter or happiness to your life should be included.

Make a list of the challenges you’re currently facing in your life.

Write down any positives there are in these current challenges.

Are they teaching you something? How are they allowing you to grow and develop? Have they opened new networks or doors for you? Have you developed new skillsets to deal with them? What do you know now that you didn’t know before?

What are three simple things you can do right now that can help you to increase the positives that arise from these challenges?

Write down how you can use these positives to fuel the way you approach every day. Share your answers with the other participants in your group.

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Course Manual 5: Cognitive Resilience

Introduction

Building cognitive resilience can help you maintain the mental agility and memory retention of someone who is decades younger. In addition, research has shown that even people with severe Alzheimer’s brain alterations can delay cognitive decline by building up cognitive resilience.

How then can you grow it?

Let’s take a look at people who are called ‘Superagers’.

Most people’s brains atrophy and shrink with time, which frequently causes cognitive impairment. Although expected, this deterioration is not unavoidable. A limited number of individuals, though, defy this common ageing process. These ‘cognitive Superagers’ have brain functions comparable to individuals in their 50s, give or take a decade, and they survive into their 80s, 90s, and even their 100s.

Researchers are trying to understand why these Superagers maintain their cognitive health but not others with similar backgrounds and brain abnormalities. In one study, researchers at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University compared the brain MRI scans of Superagers 80 years and older to those of cognitively average 80-year-olds and younger persons.

They discovered that Superagers have brain shrinkage at a far lesser rate than regular 80-somethings. Additionally, they discovered that the Superagers’ brains had thicker anterior cingulates – an area of the brain that supports attention – similar to what is shown in brain imaging of humans in their 50s and 60s.

So, what makes a Superager so adept at aging in a super manner? According to some studies, beneficial genes known as ‘longevity genes’ exist in those people who live a long time. In one study, scientists from Albert Einstein College of Medicine discovered a gene variation that increases the creation of HDL, or good cholesterol, and is common in people who live very long lives. People with two copies of this gene mutation had a much lower rate of memory deterioration and a 70% decreased likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

However, if you didn’t win the genetic lottery, the studies show that you can still develop cognitive resilience by modelling Superagers’ lifestyle features.

While some aspects of the Superager lifestyle, like pursuing challenging career moves that keep your mind engaged and learning, or possessing a graduate degree, are difficult to replicate in middle age, there are other lifestyle choices that you can make at any age to increase your cognitive resilience.

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Have quality people around you

More than their cognitively average senior contemporaries, Superagers report having solid, high-quality relationships with friends and family. This result is consistent with past research linking psychological health to superior cognitive function in older persons. Additionally, a another study from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine discovered that having someone you can rely on to listen to you when you need to talk is linked to higher cognitive resilience most of the time.

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Continue or pursue meaningful work

You must engage your intellect to keep it engaged. For instance, a Mayo Clinic study found that adults with or without genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease were more robust to cognitive loss if they engaged in intellectually stimulating schooling and employment.

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Set a challenge for yourself and relish in it

A Superager researcher from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, Emily Rogalski, Ph.D., asserts that while mental challenge is important, enjoyment of the challenge is equally important.

For instance, even though crossword puzzles are generally difficult and good for the brain, you won’t necessarily profit from them if you find them boring or easy. Rogalski advised, “My general advice is find something that challenges you, that is exciting to you, and focus on that,” in a podcast produced by the American Psychological Association.

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Be a solution-seeker

Don’t be afraid to take on a challenging task or problem, whether it’s assembling IKEA furniture, resolving a computer issue, or assisting children with their homework.

This is another method to keep your brain engaged and challenge yourself. Push through the discomfort or confusion, stick with the problem through to the conclusion, and concentrate on succeeding rather than giving up or asking someone else to fix or do something.

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Maintain hearing and visual health

If you can’t hear or see what’s going on, you can’t stay interested. It comes as no surprise that hearing loss is one of the main risk factors for dementia, according to a 2020 Lance commission research study.

Your brain is less engaged and busy if you can’t hear. Additionally, according to Dr. Thomas T. Perls, a geriatrician at Boston University and the study’s director, hearing loss and poor vision both contribute to cognitive impairment.

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Ten Key Things to Develop Cognitive Resilience

The incandescent light bulb is said to have gone through thousands of prototypes before Thomas Edison finally got it right. And given that the prolific inventor received more than 1,000 patents, it’s not hard to see him making mistakes every day in his Menlo Park lab.

Despite dealing with “failure” all of his professional life, Edison never allowed it to control him. He learned how not to invent something from all of these tens of thousands of “failures”, as they are reportedly called. The phonograph, the telegraph, and the motion picture were some of the most astounding inventions of the early 20th Century because of his perseverance.

What kind of society would we live in now if Edison had given up after his initial setbacks? His motivational tale compels us to examine our own lives and ask ourselves if we possess the fortitude required to meet obstacles head-on. Or do we allow our setbacks to thwart our ambitions? And what could we achieve if we had the tenacity to keep going?

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The Value of Resistance

Our capacity for adaptation and recovery when things don’t go according to plan is known as resilience (or resiliency). People that are resilient don’t wallow in failure or spend too much time reflecting on it; instead, they accept the situation, admit their faults, and move on.

Three factors are crucial to resilience:

• Challenge: People who are resilient see difficulties as challenges rather than terrifying occurrences. They see errors and mistakes as chances for progress and as lessons to be learned from. They don’t see them as an insult to their intelligence or sense of worth.

• Purpose: Having a strong purpose to get out of bed in the morning, resilient people are committed to their life and their ambitions. They dedicate to their friendships, their relationships, the issues they care about, and their religious or spiritual convictions in addition to their work.

• Personal Control: People who are resilient focus their time and energy on the situations and events they can influence. They feel empowered and confident because they focus their efforts where they will make the biggest impact. People who spend a lot of time worrying about things they cannot control frequently feel lost, useless, and unable to take any action.

Martin Seligman, another eminent psychologist, asserts that how we explain failures to ourselves is also crucial. Although he uses the terms optimism and pessimism instead of resilience, the result is practically the same. There are three essential components that make up this ‘explanatory style’:

• Permanence: Optimistic people (who are consequently more resilient) view negative outcomes as temporary rather than permanent. For instance, they might use the phrase ‘My boss didn’t like the work I did on that project’ rather than ‘My boss never likes my work’.

• Pervasiveness: People who are resilient don’t let failures or negative situations interfere with their daily lives in irrelevant ways. For example, they would use the phrase ‘I’m not very good at this’ as opposed to ‘I’m no good at anything’.

• Personalization: Resilient people don’t place the blame for unpleasant things happening on themselves. Instead, they attribute the problem on other individuals or the external environment. They can say something like, ‘I didn’t get the support I needed to finish that project successfully’, as opposed to, ‘I messed up that project because I can’t do my job’.

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People that are resilient have hope for the future. In other words, they keep a cheerful attitude and look forwards to better times. They are driven to succeed and have clear goals.

While sympathetic and empathetic, resilient people don’t waste time worrying about what other people think of them. They keep up positive relationships and resist peer pressure. People who are resilient never view themselves as victims; instead, they put their time and effort into influencing the variables under their control.

One of the most essential reasons why having developing cognitive resilience is so important is that how we perceive stress and adversity has a huge impact on how we achieve.

We will inevitably make mistakes and occasionally fail in life, thus it is natural that we will experience failure at times. The only way to prevent this is to have a sheltered, meager life where you never take chances or try anything new. Few of us desire such a life!

Instead, despite the very real possibility that we will fall short in some way, we should have the bravery to pursue our dreams. When we do fail, being resilient implies that we are able to pick ourselves up, learn the lessons we need to learn, and move on to bigger and better things.

In general, cognitive resilience offers us the strength to bounce back from obstacles and lead the life we’ve always wanted.

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Ten Strategies for Increasing Cognitive Resilience

The good news is that you can learn to cultivate a robust mindset and attitude even if you’re not a naturally resilient person. Include the following in your routine to achieve this:

1. Learn to unwind. You are better able to deal with obstacles in life when you take care of your body and mind. Create a regular sleep schedule, give a new workout a try, or use restorative exercises like deep breathing or meditation.

2. Become conscious of your thoughts. Positive thoughts do not cause resilient people to give up on their goals. Instead, they continually engage in optimistic thought. This entails paying attention to the language you use when something goes wrong; if you catch yourself saying things that are enduring, ubiquitous, or specific to you, rectify these ideas in your head.

3. Improve your outlook. Try cognitive restructuring to alter the way you perceive unpleasant circumstances and unfortunate events.

4. Take lessons from your setbacks and blunders. You may learn something valuable from every mistake, so always be on the lookout for them. Make sure you comprehend the concept of “post-traumatic growth” as well. Many times, crisis events, such as a job loss or relationship collapse, give people the opportunity to reflect on their life and make constructive adjustments.

5. Consciously choose how you respond. Keep in mind that everyone has bad days and experiences their fair share of problems. However, we have a choice in how we react: we can opt to react with fear and negativity, or we can opt to maintain composure and use reason to take charge and come up with a solution. It is always up to you how you respond.

6. Keep perspective. People who are resilient recognize that while a situation or crisis may appear overpowering in the moment, it may not have a significant long-term impact. Avoid exaggerating occurrences as much as possible.

7. Make some goals for yourself. If you don’t already, learn to set SMART, effective personal goals that match your values, and that can help you to learn from your experiences.

8. Develop your confidence. Always keep in mind that resilient people believe they will succeed in the end, despite any obstacles or pressures they may be experiencing. They are also able to take risks because they have faith in themselves. When you have faith in yourself, you have the strength to keep going forwards and take the risks necessary to advance.

9. Create enduring connections. Strong interpersonal relationships at work help employees cope with stress better and enjoy their jobs more. The more genuine friendships you build, the more robust you’ll be because you’ll have a strong support system to rely on. This also applies to your personal life.

10. Be adaptable. People with resilience are aware that circumstances might change and that carefully constructed plans occasionally need to be modified or abandoned.

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Case Study: A New Perspective on Resilience, Cognitive Approach

Organizations must build their resilience in order to be able to deal with unforeseen events, recover from catastrophes, and even promote future success in extremely turbulent and uncertain times.

There is no agreement on what resilience actually means and how it is made, despite the fact that scholarly interest in organizational resilience has gradually increased in recent years. Particularly needed is more information on the prerequisites for the development of organizational resilience skills.

This study on a cognitive approach to resilience sought to advance knowledge of the intricate and ingrained construct of organizational resilience in order to contribute to this diverse field of research.

Individual disparities in response patterns to various environmental challenges are significant. The core of the idea of resilience is that certain people, given the nature of adversity, handle difficult situations better than predicted.

Humans are the primary source of inspiration for cognition because of the stimuli they are exposed to and the behaviors they conduct.

Perception, attention, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, and learning are the primary cognitive capacities. The process of choosing, compiling, and interpreting sensory data to create a useful mental image of the environment is referred to as perception.

In other words, the sensory inputs are being turned into things we can use to solve problems. The ability to recognize what we need and where we need to intervene depends on our ability to pay attention.

In this regard, sustained attention enters the picture, as we direct and concentrate our cognitive energies on chosen stimuli out of all those that are available. In order to realize problem-solving, we need to maintain and focus our attention while also calling up prior information and experience from memory.

Our working memory in particular gives us the ability to temporarily store and then handle all the information we need to complete a challenging cognitive activity. The reasoning process is a different cognitive process.

Rationality is the method by which we arrive at conclusions. When it comes to problem solving, humans must mentally represent the problem’s initial state, the goal state (objective), and any potential intervening states (i.e., the problem space), as well as various strategies for navigating the problem space in order to reach the end goal state (i.e., the search heuristics).

Finally, after completing a difficult task (such as solving a problem), the overall result, procedure, etc., can lead to learning, i.e., new knowledge, if the results are stored in our long term memory by following particular paths towards what type of memory is now formed to be saved (for example, semantic, episodic, procedural, automatic or emotional memory).

Maintaining habits of personally fulfilling mental engagement depends on the ability to adapt to internal factors (such as senescence) and external factors (such as stressors, culture-bound expectations).

Agency in maintaining an engaged lifestyle comes from a broad constellation of resources developed throughout the course of one’s life that gives force behind one’s feeling of agency, rather than just naive optimism (e.g., the “little engine that could”).

No one is born with cognitive ability. According to some estimations, 10,000 hours of focused practice are needed to become proficient in a substantive talent. Therefore, cultural and social institutions (such as health care and educational resources) that put people in a position to engage effectively in experiences and activities that foster cognition on a large scale over an extended period of time will ultimately be responsible for normalizing optimal life span cognitive development.

Physical health, managing stress, consistent, quality sleep, intellectual engagement, knowledge, motivation and cognitive stimulation are all key components of building cognitive resilience.

Stages of resilience can be said to always have cognitive and behavioral components, and the successful completion of each stage depends on the interaction of cognitive and behavioral abilities and behaviors.

To comprehend environmental developments and arrive at the best judgements, one needs cognitive abilities (such as mindfulness, sense-making, and critical reflection).

A corporation must constantly be willing to think about how challenges can impact its current success and must be acutely aware of what is changing. Resources are employed and appropriate activities are taken thanks to behavioral talents (such improvisation, experimentation, and knowledge application).

They serve as an organization’s ‘engine of progress’.

Stages of resilience as well as the development of resilience abilities depend on contextual factors, such as resources, social capital, and power, in addition to the interaction of cognitive and behavioral resilience components.

Organizational capabilities that support the stages of organizational resilience—and consequently the meta-capability of organizational resilience—depend on a variety of context-specific elements. Resilience abilities, as previously said, are incredibly complicated and deeply ingrained in social situations, making it difficult to identify the necessary conditions and factors for their completion. The availability of money, social resources, and power/responsibility are three primary drivers and antecedents that are particularly significant.

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Exercise 6.5: Finding Strengths in Problems

Break into 2 groups of 3 participants and 1 group of 4 participants.

As a group, answer the following questions:

Write down a challenge that your organization is currently experiencing. Describe the characteristics of this challenge:

What are the issues being experienced?

Are there the right resources/right level of resources available?

Is this a long-term issue?

What is the impact on the people within the organization?

Anything else relating to this challenge that needs to be noted?

In what area of life does this challenge hold the greatest influence? (Family/Friends/Work/Health/Other)

Is there something the organization is doing too much or too little of that is contributing to the problem? Is there something that the people within the organization are doing too much or too little of that is contributing to the problem? How can the issues that have been identified as problems in Steps 4 and 5 be turned into strengths that can be utilized by the organization?

What is the organization naturally good at? What are the people within the organization naturally good at? How can those things be used to provide strength that can be applied to help solve the ongoing challenge?

Write down three things that the organization can do, with one actionable step for each, that can help remedy the issues being experienced with this challenge. Share your answers with the main group.

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Course Manual 6: Physical Resilience

Introduction

Physical resilience is the ability of the body to respond to new challenges, maintain strength and endurance under pressure, and recover quickly and effectively after acute injury or microbial invasion. The body must excel at waste elimination in addition to having appropriate nourishment and the functional ability to use those nutrients.

Resilience simply refers to the body’s capacity to realize, express, and constantly revert to its natural state of health, if health is its default setting. In the end, our part in this is clear-cut and remarkably easy. But it is made more difficult by a wide range of cultural and environmental factors, chief among which is how distant we have become from our own bodies. All of this obviously takes a strong will to succeed.

Until we make the effort to focus on and pay attention to our body, vibrant health may continue to elude us. The body is able to discern what is and is not healthy for it.

Simply put, being healthy means not being unwell. That sounds very easy. However, the terms ‘health’ and ‘resilience’, as well as how we use them, defy scholastic definition. There are literally thousands (if not tens of thousands) of different illnesses.

The body and mind are mutually constitutive. Many individuals put themselves under a lot of stress when they try to eat healthily, and a deluge of scientific studies has proven that this stress is actually significantly more toxic than occasionally eating something that has less than optimal nutrition.

We also know that with the right nutrition, stress and a variety of mental disorders can be greatly reduced or even totally eliminated.

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Physical resilience and stress

Physical resilience can lead to stress, which has a variety of negative impacts on our health. These effects vary depending on the circumstances of each people. There aren’t any silver bullets, but one of the major secrets to a happy and successful existence in today’s culture is the control of stress.

When we carry stress in our bodies it creates inflammation, and modern-day research studies are rapidly coming to the conclusion that almost every illness, disease and condition today can be linked back to inflammation in the body. When addressing the pillars of creating a balanced life and taking bodily resilience into consideration, it is crucial to keep this physical aspect in mind.

However, what might we possibly be discussing when people claim or have been proven to be feeling stress in their diverse lives?

• Research shows that 75-90% of all visits to a doctor are associated with stress in some way.

• Stress is harmful and can contribute to a variety of serious and minor health issues, including migraines, heart issues, high blood pressure, various skin ailments, asthma, and the list goes on.

• If addressed in a timely manner, stress can be managed.

• Depression can be a experienced as a direct result of prolonged forms of stress.

• Stress becomes more difficult to control for an individual when it gets chronic due to the complex health harm that follows as a result in the body.

• Rapid breathing can occur under stress.

• Stress might prevent someone from getting enough sleep at night, ruining their daily routine and causing them to remain in an unproductive state.

In short, not only is physical health directly impacted by stress, but it pervades all aspects of life and, by its very nature, makes it very difficult to physically move the body.

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Resilience and physical stress management

Exercise is known to help with physical resilience even though stress is frequently thought of as a subjective experience. Levels of stress may be quickly quantified using various physiological tests. There are several helpful stress resilience methods that may be used to help people feel less stressed, more in control of their lives, and more prosperous overall, which will help them be more physically resilient.

The ability to be physically healthy and adapt to stress and life’s obstacles is known as physical resilience.

There are many ways to accomplish this, however as every individual is unique, it is important that each individual chooses the solution that is best for them. Some options include taking long walks, power walking, running, taking gym classes, participating in any sport, or taking other actions that will strengthen and improve our cardiovascular system and allow it to deliver oxygen and nutrients to our muscles, which is proven to give us more energy.

The key to great physical resilience is to find the combination of activities that allow you to maintain physical health over the long-term. A great place to start is to ask yourself some questions that can help you to gauge what activities will boost your physical resilience.

1. How do you maintain your wellbeing?

2. Do you follow a specific exercise schedule?

3. How do you feel after engaging in the activities you do regularly?

• Do you feel uplifted and energized afterwards?

• Do you feel drained and exhausted?

• Do you find yourself itching to get to the activities?

• Do you force yourself to get to the activities and then force yourself to participate in them?

4. What are you doing now that you could modify?

5. What do you need to avoid for a while?

6. What new activities might be more supportive of you for where you are at right now?

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A vital component of resilience for physical health and a way to reduce the size of big challenges is getting a good night’s sleep. A good night’s sleep will improve your physical wellbeing in managing stress by establishing a new routine.

Some tried and true things that people have been doing to assist their sleep include:

• going for a stroll as close to bedtime as you can without using your phone (because exposure to light increases melatonin level).

• taking a soothing bath using relaxing essential oils or bath salts (such as lavender oil).

• avoid using a TV, tablet, or phone in your bedroom.

• breathing practices that includes inhaling for four counts, holding your breath for four, and exhaling your breath (and your stress!) for eight. As often as you deem necessary, repeat.

Exercise is also an essential component of building physical resilience. Exercise increases brain blood flow, oxygen levels, and the release of endorphins, which are feel-good chemicals. These endorphins cause the body to experience happiness. Endorphins are often referred to as ‘the natural happy pill’.

Like a lot things in the health and wellness space, the term ‘exercise’ has been taken over and distorted by marketing campaigns so it’s important to understand that it doesn’t just refer to activities that involve high intensity style workouts. It embodies all forms of movement and includes everything from running, walking, swimming, HIIT and spin classes to yoga, pilates, mediation, mindfulness, and through to dance classes such as Zumba and the like.

Meditation and mindfulness activities come under the heading of exercise because you are using your mind to focus on your breathing, which enables you to observe your ideas, take control of them, and embrace the good ones.

Working on some form of mindfulness first thing in the morning can alleviate stress in your body and if practiced at night can help with a good nights’ sleep.

This gives you the power to just think in the moment and we all know that stress in our lives is often worrying about the past and then projecting our F.E.A.R. (false evidence appearing real) into the future.

Physical resilience can also be enhanced by a focus on nutritious eating.

As strange as it may seem, the food that we eat can have a profound effect on our wellbeing and mood swings, all of which impact on our resilience to cope. Nuts, fruit, vegetables, fish, and poultry have a more favorable impact on our capacity to handle difficult situations.

Research has shown that the Mediterranean diet with olive oil reduces the incidents of major cardiovascular events and encourages a happier outlook on life.

In exactly the same way that creating a movement plan needs to be done in a way that provides a unique solution for each individual, the way that you put your food together also needs to match the unique needs each individual has.

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The importance of physical resilience

Resilience in later life has been linked to positive early life experiences or lifestyle characteristics like physical activity, which suggests that regular exercise can produce brain protection by way of reserve.

Physical activity is generally recognized as a way to prevent the negative effects of stressful situations and reduce cognitive decline in adults, people in their middle-aged years, and people who are older.

For instance, physical activity during middle age (between ages 25 and 50) has been shown to lower the risk of dementia in older persons and to enhance cognition, particularly in terms of executive-control functions.

Perhaps the greatest role that physical resilience plays is that of assisting in the reduction of stress that is held within the body. The less stress, the less inflammation that will be held. This lowers the risk of experiencing lifestyle related illnesses and diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular events and neurological conditions (for example, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s Disease, dementia and the like).

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How do you measure physical resilience?

The short answer is, it’s difficult to measure because creating a solution that fits everyone is reliant on having a one-size-fits-all test environment. The reality is, that everyone is a unique combination of factors that go together to create who they are, the situation they are in and the way that they experience the world. That means that only a unique combination of activities, people, places and things will provide them with the environment that will enable them to thrive and build unassailable resilience levels.

The key to understand where your own resilience levels are at is to start to ask yourself questions that can help you to uncover what is, and isn’t working for you in your life.

Start to take notice of how you are feeling when you’re doing things. Does the activity, people, places and the like give you energy or take it away from you. Do you leave feeling uplifted and ready to take on the world, or completely drained and like you need to sleep to recover? Are you sleeping well? What are the things in your day that drive you to reach for those not-so-nutritious food options?

The more conscious you can become about what is happening within you and then connecting it to what is happening around you, the more you can unravel your own unique response to the situations, people and places in your life.

Start your own measurement exercise. Get to know yourself again. Find out how you tick and then work out what it is you need to help build your resilience in a different way.

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How to improve physical resilience

By incorporating regular routines into your daily life, you can gradually develop physical resilience. If you want to increase your physical resilience, think about implementing some of the following strategies:

1. Practice having a positive attitude on life. Having a good outlook on life not only helps you in your daily life but also directly contributes to the development of resilience. Be patient with yourself as you work to change your negative self-talk and adopt a more positive outlook. Meditation and mindfulness exercises can be helpful for controlling negative self-talk and guiding one towards a more optimistic viewpoint.

2. Develop a robust support system. Resilience requires a social network. People can cope with adversity by making an effort to keep up relationships with friends and family. In trying times, friends can be a source of comfort by offering assistance, counsel, and encouragement.

3. Establish self-care practices. Self-care practices can help to increase resilience. Self-care entails taking good care of yourself in all important areas, such as getting enough sleep, working out frequently, maintaining a nutritious diet, and using stress-reduction methods like yoga or meditation. Self-care routines can assist people in overcoming low confidence and self-esteem difficulties.

4. Learning from the past. People can develop new techniques for effectively coping in the future by reflecting on past coping mechanisms that have worked or not.

5. Asking for assistance. Everyone requires assistance at times; there is no shame in asking for assistance when required. Numerous professional resources, including psychotherapy, can assist people in regaining their bearings. As an alternative, asking friends for a little extra help can be helpful.

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Case Study: The Impact of Physical Fitness on Resilience to Modern Life Stress

The development of stress-related diseases is prevented by physical activity and fitness, according to a large body of research. The advantages of exercise for stress resilience in modern life are not yet fully known.

Enhanced resilience may have protective effects due to underlying psychosocial mechanisms like self-efficacy expectations. Fitness evaluations were conducted on 431 initially healthy persons as part of a longitudinal-prospective study that aimed to pinpoint the factors behind resilience.

Along with measuring cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness using a submaximal step test, a hand strength test, and a standing long jump test, self-efficacy and habitual activity were also evaluated. Stressor reactivity, which was tracked quarterly for nine months, was used to measure resilience. It measured mental health issues in relation to reported life events and daily inconveniences.

Bootstrapped mediation analyses and hierarchical linear regression models were used. We may demonstrate a positive correlation between stress resilience and physical strength and self-perceived fitness. Extending this discovery, self-efficacy expectations were found to play a role in the link between muscular fitness and resilience.

Self-efficacy expectations may function in this situation as a psychological mechanism with supplementary advantages for the improvement of mental health. Muscular and self-perceived fitness were found to be significant predictive indicators for stress resilience, although physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness were not.

Introduction

Physical inactivity is one of the most significant public health issues of our time because it has been shown to be the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide and is linked to a higher prevalence of mental illnesses.

Although the prevalence of stress-related mental diseases is on the rise, 25% of European people are believed to be insufficiently active, a statistic that has remained constant over the previous decades. Given the extensive research demonstrating the potential advantages of physical activity and fitness for both physical and mental health, these results are shocking.

Exercise, physical fitness, and mental health

It is commonly known that physical activity, physical fitness, and mental health are directly related. People who are physically active report having higher mental health and improved moods. Exercise, in particular, has been cited as a preventative measure against the emergence of typical stress-related mental health issues.

Numerous clinical, interventional, and epidemiological prospective investigations have shown that routine exercise or habitual physical activity has a dose-dependent impact on depression and anxiety. Additionally, physical fitness has been acknowledged as a crucial indicator of mental health.

Physical resilience may be the result of the interaction of various circumstances, such as exercise participation, but it may also be partially genetically determined. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), out of all the fitness-related health factors, has most frequently been linked to lower rates of stress-related mental health issues such depression and burnout.

Muscular fitness, while less well-established than CRF, is becoming more and more accepted as a crucial physical metric. In older adults and adolescents, health-related quality of life has been positively correlated with muscular strength. Conversely, depressive symptoms and frailty have been negatively correlated with muscular strength.

Fitness and physical exercise as stress-resilience determinants

Although the link between prevalent mental health illnesses and physical exercise and fitness is well known, people rarely take into account how much stress they are actually under. The focus of resilience research is on preventive elements and systems that have the ability to lessen the negative effects of stress and support mental health when exposed to stressors.

Resilience has been conceptualized more and more recently as the result of a dynamic process of adaptation in the face of difficulty and shifting demands. Therefore, in relation to the total stressor load, people with strong resilience are less likely than expected to experience mental health issues.

General self-efficacy is a psychological mechanism

Insight into the mediating pathways is essential to understand the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of physical fitness on stress coping.

With regard to cognitive appraisal, the concept of self-efficacy, as initially introduced by Bandura’s social cognitive theory, refers to the belief of one’s capabilities to perform properly in challenging situations.

It has been proposed as a resistance resource within the cognitive appraisal process, which is known to be crucial for the regulation of stressful, potentially traumatizing demands. The stress regulatory capacities are used as a possible explanation in research proposing that efficacy expectations buffer the negative effects of daily stress or life events on mental health problems.

More recently, self-efficacy has also been postulated as an essential resilience mechanism in the positive appraisal style theory of resilience (PASTOR). Earlier theoretical models state that changes in physical activity and fitness can act as a mastery or efficacy experience in the physical domain.

This experience may even generalize to a broader physical self-concept and, consequently, to enhanced global self-esteem and psychological wellbeing. Interestingly, self-efficacy has been shown to be both, a determinant as well as a consequence of physical activity.

Mulitple studies now support the theory that physical resilience can be a predictor of mental health and lifestyle related illnesses, diseases and conditions.

Muscular strength and self-perceived fitness are positively correlated with resilience to stress, which is demonstrated by a long-term pattern of low symptomatic stressor reactivity. In general, the inverse relationship between muscular strength and mental health issues is consistent with past research on the predictive usefulness of fitness for mental health resources, quality of life, or the onset of depressive and anxiety symptoms.

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Exercise 6.6: Creating Physical Resilience

Break into 2 groups of 5 people.

As individuals, answer the following questions:

What do you actively do to maintain your wellbeing?

Are these things an always, sometimes, rarely, never occurrence in your day-to-day life?

Do you follow a specific exercise schedule?

Have you ever measured whether the schedule you follow is working for you?

How do you feel after engaging in the activities you do regularly?

Do you feel uplifted and energized afterwards? Do you feel drained and exhausted? Do you find yourself itching to get to the activities? Do you force yourself to get to the activities and then force yourself to participate in them.

What are you doing now that you could modify?

What do you need to avoid for a while? What new activities might be more supportive of you for where you are at right now? What is one thing you can change/modify right now that can make a difference to your physical wellbeing and increase your physical resilience?

What step will you take to make sure you can have that one thing right now? How and when will you take that step? How will you hold yourself accountable for taking that step?

Share your answers with your group.

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Course Manual 7: Emotional Resilience

Introduction

When you can control your agitated thoughts after having a bad event, you have emotional resilience. It is innate motivation, a power within ourselves that enables us to endure all of life’s challenges.

Emotional resilience is a feature that exists from birth and keeps growing throughout life, just like other facets of our identity – like social intelligence and emotional intelligence.

The goal of emotional toughness is not victory in conflict. It is the ability to maintain control of the sail despite the storm. We adjust to changes that didn’t previously exist in our lives every ten years because we live in a time of technological revolution. It is only natural to experience occasional feelings of emotional entanglement due to the relentless digitalization, the 24/7 social media influence, the changing nature of vocations, and adaptation to ‘Gen Y’ culture.

The Latin word “resilio”, which means “to bounce back” or “to retaliate”, is the source of the English term “resilience”.

Self-belief, self-compassion, and improved cognition are all intertwined with the art of emotional resilience as a way of life. It is how we enable ourselves to view challenges as “temporary” and continue growing despite the pain and suffering.

Emotional resilience, broadly speaking, refers to our ability to recover from a tense situation without allowing it to undermine our internal drive. Resilience is the acceptance that “I am broken” and continuing to grow alongside the shattered pieces together, not the “bend but don’t break” quality.

Being resilient allows us to not only cope with pressure and setbacks, but also to gain the wisdom to forego acts that would put us in such a predicament.

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Emotional resiliency components

Three pillars serve as the foundation upon which we might construct or work to improve emotional resilience. The three components are sometimes known as the ‘three dimensions of emotional resilience’ and consist of the following:

1. Physical elements: these include physical fortitude, vigor, and wellbeing.

2. Psychological or Mental components: these include qualities like adaptability, focus, emotional awareness and control, self-confidence, self-esteem, and the capacity for thought and reasoning.

3. Social components: these include group conformity, likeability, communication, cooperation, and interpersonal relationships (job, partner, kids, parents, friends, community and the like).

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What Makes People Emotionally Resistant?

Resilience is the ability to continue performing competently in the face of significant life ‘stressors’.

With the right information, instruction and motivation, emotional resilience can be built. With emotional resilience, you can handle any circumstance efficiently and protect yourself from the emotional damage that could result from it, whether you are navigating professional dangers, a tumultuous relationship, or the challenges of parenting a young rebel at home.

Accepting that emotional resilience is inextricably linked to other facets of life is a crucial component in developing emotional resilience. For instance, developing resilience at work will also help you develop resilience in your personal relationships, and the opposite is also true. Whether or not the training is intended to improve performance in a specific area, it will inevitably have an impact on other facets of life as well.

The goal of resilience training is to increase emotional resilience by developing:

• Awareness of oneself: the capacity to tune into our own emotions, inner conflicts, and worldview. We get a deeper grasp of how feelings influence our actions through self-awareness.

• Self-awareness: provides us the strength to look within ourselves for solutions rather than seeking assistance from outside sources or blaming the outside world for our problems. Building self-awareness aids in our ability to become more capable and aware by increasing our awareness of our inner world.

• Staying power: a person can acquire the constancy and determination to keep trying with the aid of resilience training. Perseverance keeps the inner drive alive whether addressing external challenges or resolving internal difficulties.

• Emotional management: higher levels of emotional and self-control allow people to reroute their emotions and control them. They are less likely to succumb to stress or allow it to negatively impact their life. They deliberate before acting, and they don’t jump to conclusions too quickly.

• Flexibility of thought: flexible thinking is a crucial component of mental health that adds to any person’s success on the job and in their personal life, according to Alice Boyes’ (2014) article in Psychology Today. It is a potent social talent that combines positivity, adaptability, reason, and optimism. A person who possesses these qualities or has acquired them via education or experience will unquestionably be more emotionally strong and have a more stable outlook on life.

• Relationships with others: emotional resilience is both a result of and a requirement for having healthy interpersonal interactions. If we possess the capacity to create solid relationships with people on a professional or personal level, we have already made progress towards leading resilient lives.

Building great interpersonal relationships broadens our view and alters the way we perceive the world and ourselves.

Being surrounded by other people provides us the power to face challenges head-on, endure them, and learn from them, since we are social beings. We must be able to strengthen our current interpersonal connections and be receptive to forming new ones if we are to develop emotional resilience in a larger environment.

Employees that are emotionally resilient have greater coping methods. They are more emotionally intelligent and more aware.

Deeper parts of neuropsychology, emotional control, hereditary effects, and early experiences are the things that determine whether someone is resilient or not.

Self-assessments and qualitative assignments are used to measure development and determine one’s level of resilience at the program’s conclusion.

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Stress reduction and emotional toughness

Building resilience is directly impacted by managing stress, or more accurately, by managing stress successfully.

How well we can manage stress and get back on track is central to the concept of being emotionally resilient.

We can lose our emotional resilience for a variety of reasons, including becoming bogged down by life’s everyday stresses. More sensitivity, excessive reactivity, and emotional instability set in. We can become anxious and panicky at even the smallest change in our plans.

Resilient people, according to studies, can handle stress more skillfully. They are more likely to gain lessons from traumatic experiences than to get overwhelmed by them, and they are able to recover positively and confidently from any stressful scenario.

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The book ‘Emotional Resilience: How To Safeguard Your Mental Health’ (2018) contains some of the interesting results from research conducted by Dr. Harry Barry, a general practitioner and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) expert.

This book, which debuted in May 2018, is undoubtedly among the most comprehensive and well-liked works on emotional resilience. Dr. Barry refers to emotional resilience as the ‘building blocks of life’ in his book, illustrating his points with approachable concepts and real-world experiences.

According to Dr. Barry, resilience is what allows some people to handle stress better than others. Our coping mechanisms are rapidly activated to manage the situation when we are exposed to toxic stress, also known as burnout (Barry, 2018).

Dr. Barry’s research shows that resilient people are quicker and better at using these coping mechanisms, which allows them to more easily and comfortably adjust to challenges.

In addition, he noted that while some people are born with greater emotional balance and resilience than others, with the correct support, we can all develop into mentally mature, emotionally robust individuals.

The book is held as a gold standard for mental health interventions in applied psychology, and everyone can gain from it. The book also acts as a training handbook for those who want to develop their resilience power through useful and basic exercises that are mostly based on the principles of CBT.

Three core ideas form the central theme of the intervention tactics discussed in the book (Barry, 2018):

• Cognitive process: how we think.

• Perception: how we interpret and assess the world around us.

• Action: how we respond to what we see, feel and experience.

The book’s concepts are intended to assist the reader become a more emotionally resilient person by attempting to change the way that person thinks, feels, and behaves.

Dr Barry’s theory shows that emotional resilience can be fostered by:

• realizing that our actions are influenced by our thoughts,

• accepting stress and being prepared to handle it well,

• being adaptable and flexible when adjusting to new circumstances,

• acknowledging that a lot may be achieved by altering how we respond to stress, and

• cultivating self-compassion and empathy to embrace oneself.

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Principal findings of emotional resilience research

Individual skills

These are the abilities necessary to manage our daily lives, including crucial traits like emotional control, self-acceptance, empathy, and self-esteem as well as thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving.

Researchers have seen many examples of anxiety, sadness, low productivity, and stress problems over the course of extended studies that have been conducted, and almost all the results show that lower levels of resilience can be attributed to the absence of certain basic talents. Developing emotional strength and resilience requires unconditional acceptance of oneself.

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Social competencies

High levels of social skills are described as having the ability to experience a successful interaction with oneself and with the environment one finds oneself within. It is also the capacity to establish and maintain enduring interpersonal connections.

Aristotle is believed to have stated that “…a human is a social creature”.

We coexist with other humans in a close-knit society through communication, comfort in our physical contact, and cooperation.

Dr. Barry noted in the section on social skills that enhancing the methods in which we communicate with people, understand their issues, and adapt to them might help us develop emotional resiliency and enable us to constructively deal with burnouts.

His book also notes that efforts to hone social skills need to include the following:

• acquiring and using empathy in daily life, both at work and at home (social cues are present in both verbal and nonverbal communication, and they may be read and understood),

• managing performance fright and social anxiety, and

• using the ability to express oneself.

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Life skills

All of our social, interpersonal, and cognitive skills are seamlessly combined to form life skills. It includes the power to peacefully resolve a conflict, the ability to manage stress and cope with it efficiently, and the power to develop a perfect work-life balance.

By improving the set of skills that fall under this category, Dr. Barry has ensured that one can definitely become more emotionally resilient and well-adjusted. It is a relatively broader area that encompasses a lot of our persona, and Dr. Barry, with simple and relatable examples and worksheets, has made it a piece of cake for the readers to apply in their daily lives.

That we are in the middle of an ‘anxiety endemic’ and even the youngsters are not exempted from this, is the main concern around which Dr. Barry has devised the training methods and practical examples in the book.

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Activities for building emotional resilience

There are a number of recognised and highly utilized practices for building and improving emotional resilience levels including:

Self-acceptance

Self-acceptance teach us how to be more compassionate, considerate, and respectful towards ourselves.

Beating procrastination

Focusing on things such as letting go of the desire to be perfect, using regular intervals while working for long hours, and breaking down goals into smaller sub-goals – these activities are specially designed for the ones struggling with procrastination.

Flooding

The manifestation of anxiety, stress, and depression is often physical, with symptoms like unexplained headaches, insomnia, palpitations and so on.

Through ‘Flooding’, which is a CBT technique of facing emotions, we can directly encounter our problems and attempt to change them. There are no limits and no bars in flooding; each and every thought that we perceive as disturbing is invited and dealt with.

The only thing required is unconditional acceptance and the willingness to combat them. By far, this has been one of the most successful CBT strategies to build resilience.

Finding the balance

Emotional resilience is a trajectory of healthy functioning after encountering a highly adverse incident.

Success comes from developing the balance between our emotions and the way we let them affect our lives. In the section about life skills development noted above, Dr. Barry mentioned that once we have acquired the skills to cope with the daily life stressors, we are already more emotionally resilient.

For finding the perfect balance in life, we can:

• Keep a daily schedule where we can note down our assignments for the day and act according to the plan.

• Maintain a priority list and see where our kids, partners, work, parents, personal care, and social life comes in it.

• Come back and rebuild our priorities as often as we need to.

• Commit to devote some quality time to the ones high on the priority list.

• Engage in active communication with our partner once in a while to discuss the roller-coasters of life and confronting problems rather than escaping it.

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Case Study: What can an Employer do to Build Emotional Resilience?

Health Partners is an organization that offers emotional resilience group coach for employees through organizational training programs.

The Study

A study was created to evaluate the effects of participating in either of Health Partners’ emotional resilience coaching programs for a period of twelve months. The two coaching programs were mad accessible to all participants as part of a formal wellness program that was offered through an organization. Regular sessions and a series of topics were provided as a part of the wellness program, with each topic containing three, one-hour sessions. The organization used emails and posters circulated throughout their building to advertise the programs.

83 workers in total took part in the programs for developing emotional resilience. The participants had an average age of 48 and were mostly female (85%). A specific ‘Health Assessment’ (HA) was created, which was a tool that employees had access to and was used to examine outcomes related to emotional resilience.

The HA was a self-report questionnaire that participants could complete online. It evaluated a wide range of self-reported health indicators, offered participants personalized feedback, and provided them with suggestions for possible wellbeing programs that might be appropriate for them based on their answers.

The HA outcomes of program participants were compared to a reference group of 308 employees who did not take part in a wellbeing program. Data was collected prior to the start of the emotional resilience programs and again after employees had been participating in the resilience program for one year.

Measures of Results

The Total Health Potential Score (THPS), which is a 1,000-point total score calculated from the HA’s assessment of several health parameters, provides a summary of the results. The Modifiable Health Potential Score (MHPS), the Quality of Life Score (QOLS), and the Non-Modifiable Health Potential Score together make up the THPS, which can have a maximum score of 1,000 points. A higher score is intended to imply better health, and this is the case for all health potential scores. The effects of resilience coaching on THPS, MHPS, and QOLS were considered in this study. The program’s effect on the Health Risk 10 Score (RISK10) was also put to the test. Ten risk factors that are proven to have an impact on people’s health make up the RISK10. The achievement of a lower score suggests better health (i.e., less risk), as this metric is meant to evaluate risk.

The following question was used to gauge mental health concerns:

“Over the past four weeks, to what extent have emotional issues, such as feeling depressed or
anxious, caused you to accomplish less than
you would have liked in your work or other
daily activities?”

Other questions asked as part of the measurement process included:

“In general, how satisfied are you with your life?”

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“How satisfied are you with your job?”

“How satisfied are you with your current job?”

Results

Positive results were seen by participants in the resilience coaching, as indicated by a number of summary scores. These included significant increases in THPS (+4.5), MHPS (+10.1), and RISK10 (-0.2), as well as a decrease in RISK10, however only the MHPS demonstrated statistical significance. In addition, resiliency coaching participants reported higher levels of life happiness (+0.09) and job satisfaction (+0.2). Between baseline and follow-up, no statistically significant differences were seen in the comparison group.

Key Takeaways

• According to Gallup poll results, 56% of employees are doing well, 41% are having difficulty, and 3% are having a difficult time.

• However, anyone can encounter a significant stressor at any time, including those who are thriving. This increases their likelihood of struggling. In reality, 26% of workers report having “had a great deal of stress” in the past year, while 49% report having had a major stressor.

• Building the capacity for high resilience responses enables employees to be their best selves, even though it is necessary to provide high-quality treatment and support alternatives for those who suffer from severe mental illness or depression.

• Employees can benefit greatly from group coaching for emotional resilience in order to be their best selves not only at work but also at home and in the community.

• Employers can combat stigma surrounding mental illness by forming community-based partnerships that take advantage of the interests of numerous stakeholders.

After twelve months, it was discovered that three group coaching sessions significantly improved modifiable health factors. Additionally, employees of a sizable integrated health system reported significant increases in both life and career happiness.

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Exercise 6.7: Creating an Emotional Resilience Plan

Break into 2 groups of 5 participants.

As individuals, answer the following questions:

Think about a recent event where you experienced a challenge. You might have overcome a hardship, suffered an injury, heard someone say something unfavorable about you or got into a fight with a friend or a relative. Describe that challenge in a few words.

Write down the people who were there for you, supporting you through the challenge – the ones you could turn to for sage advice and who kept you going when the going got tough.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Using your hindsight, identify the strategies that you used to get through the challenge.

What were the things you did regularly that helped you the most? Did you consciously do things to help relieve stress? What were those things?

Where did you draw your inspiration from during the challenge?

Were there people whose words you drew from? Was there a particular genre of music, or a specific song that helped? Did you remember a saying from your grandparents or parents that kept you moving forward? What other experiences did you draw from?

Write down the actions that helped you find your solutions?

Did you step into problem solving? Did you conduct research to find new information? Did you create a new plan? Did you formulate new strategies? Did you enter into negotiations? Did you voice your concerns and/or your opinion? Did you ask for help? Other actions?

Write down a few words about a current challenge you are facing.

Using the information you wrote down in questions 2 – 5, write down the things that can help you to move more easily through the current challenge.

Who are the people you will turn to for support? What strategies can you use to help you? Where will you draw your inspiration from? What actions will help you take the steps you need to take?

Share your answers with your other group members. Take note of any answers from other members that you feel might also work for you.

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Course Manual 8: Psychological Resilience

Introduction

Psychological resilience is the capacity to mentally handle or adjust to hardships, adversity, and uncertainty. A different name for it is ‘mental fortitude’.

Emmy Werner, a well-known psychologist, popularized the phrase ‘psychological resilience’ in the 1970s and 1980s while in the process of studying a group of Hawaiian kids from low socioeconomic circumstances over the course of forty years.

An individual’s level of resilience is influenced by a variety of variables. Personal traits like self-esteem, self-control, and a good view on life are examples of internal variables. Social support networks, such as ties to one’s family, friends, and neighborhood, as well as access to resources and opportunities, are examples of external variables.

Resilience can be improved by using psychological techniques and interventions. These might involve Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness exercises, developing psychosocial elements, encouraging positive emotions, and encouraging self-compassion. Individuals can improve their resilience and handle hardship better by developing these resources and skills.

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The ability to use mental processes and behaviors in promoting personal assets and protecting oneself from the potential negative effects of stressors is a sign of resilience.

Psychological resilience, put more simply, is an adjustment in a person’s psychological characteristics and experiences that enables them to maintain or regain a healthy mental state during crises or chaos without suffering long-term detrimental effects.

Because resiliency can be perceived in many different ways, it is challenging to assess and test this psychological construct, which is why this topic has received a lot of criticism. Resilience is viewed differently by each psychological paradigm (biomedical, cognitive-behavioral, sociocultural, and so on), depending on where it originates and how it might be cultivated.

Despite the fact that there are several definitions of psychological resilience, the majority of them revolve around the ideas of adversity and growth. Positive emotions, social support, and toughness, according to several psychologists, might encourage someone to become more resilient.

Whilst the ability to withstand negative mental conditions that are frequently linked to unfavorable life situations is referred to as psychological resilience, this is distinct from psychological recovery, which is connected with a return to mental states and functions held prior to a personal loss or an objective or subjective traumatic experience.

According to research on psychological resilience, it is essential for fostering mental health and wellbeing. People who are resilient are better able to handle the difficulties of life, keep an optimistic attitude, and bounce back from failures more quickly. They exhibit higher levels of self-efficacy, optimism, and problem-solving abilities, all of which help them adapt and do well in challenging circumstances.

In general, resilience is viewed as a ‘positive adaptation’ following a trying or challenging circumstance. According to research, when someone is ‘bombarded by daily stress, it disrupts their internal and external sense of balance, presenting challenges as well as opportunities’.

Daily stressors can, nevertheless, have beneficial effects that foster resilience. The ideal degree of stress for each person is still a mystery. Some people are better able to tolerate stress than others.

Some psychologists contend that an individual’s perception of their stress and sense of personal control, rather than actual stress, is what fosters resilience. Stress makes it possible for people to practice this procedure.

Stressful life transitions, such as those involving developmental and social change, traumatic life events, such as grief and loss, and environmental pressures, such as poverty and community violence, cause stress in a person’s life course.

Resilience is a coherent sense of self that is able to retain normative developmental tasks that occur at different phases of life. It is the integrated adaptability of physical, mental, and spiritual aspects in a set of ‘good or bad’ conditions.

Resilience research, according to the Children’s Institute at the University of Rochester, ‘focuses on studying those who engage in life with hope and humor despite devastating losses’.

It’s crucial to keep in mind that resilience refers to the ability to ‘competently function’ after enduring a very stressful experience. A person who is resilient can overcome hardships and emerge stronger and more resourceful.

An easygoing temperament, high self-esteem, good planning abilities, and a supportive environment both inside and beyond the family are all key traits of psychological resilience. A resilient response is more likely when an incident is judged to be understandable (predictable), managed (controllable), and somewhat meaningful (explainable).

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The Process of Resilience

Most people think of psychological resiliency as a process. It is a skill that one can master through time and is something that one can employ. Others believe it to be a personal attribute, which is more commonly referred to as ‘resilience’.

The majority of studies on psychological resilience to date demonstrates that it is the outcome of people being able to connect with their settings and take part in activities that either promote wellbeing or shield them from the dominating effects of relative risk.

According to this line of thought, psychological resilience is more of a process than a feature. The idea of developing resilience is prevalent, making it a goal to work towards rather than a destination.

Results of numerous research studies have shown that individuals who can successfully deal with their surroundings are resilient. These studies show that there are three fundamental ways people might respond in trying circumstances:

• react angrily or violently.

• become exhausted and stop responding.

• feel the emotion you have about the circumstance, and then manage it correctly.

The third choice is the one that really aids a person in promoting wellness and people with higher levels of resiliency exhibit this trend in their behavior.

Their ability to deal with the situation has naturally made them more resilient. Those who choose the first and second options frequently view themselves as victims of circumstance or blame other people for their bad luck. They react inappropriately to their environment, are unable to adequately cope with it, and have a propensity to hold on to unfavorable feelings.

This frequently makes it challenging to concentrate on problem-solving or recover quickly. More resilient people will react to their circumstances by coping, recovering, and seeking a solution. It is thought that positive circumstances can support the resilience process in addition to ongoing coping mechanisms. These surroundings include social policies and enabling social contexts (including families, communities, and educational institutions).

Although gaining resilience can be thought of as a developmental process, more recent work has begun to examine personal resilience as being suggested by a reaction process. By separating instantaneous responses from dynamic responses and recovery patterns, this approach examines how an event or stressor affects a situationally appropriate indicator variable.

This understanding of ‘resilience as process’ is founded on the idea of ‘actually bouncing back’, as it can be seen in how people react to stressors and then bounce back. More robust people will initially experience some (but not as significantly as less resilient persons) increase in stress.

The quickness with which this response levels down over time (for example, over the following hours or days) to return to pre-stressor or pre-event levels can also be viewed as a sign of someone’s resilience.

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The Pillars of Psychological Resilience

These days, there is no shortage of news that makes people anxious: natural calamities, economic difficulties, and political turmoil. The stressors in our daily life, job losses, illness, financial difficulties, temper tantrums, and traffic jams are added to this background, making it obvious that stressful events are ongoing and unavoidable.

The negative consequences stress can have on your emotional and physical health are just as important as the pressures themselves. Numerous credible research have shown a connection between stress and heart disease and stroke, the top second and third leading causes of death in the US, respectively. Stress is also linked to a wide range of other illnesses, including gastrointestinal issues, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic lower respiratory infections, anxiety, and asthma flare-ups.

Now, more than ever, strong levels of resilience are crucial right now.

Self-awareness, mindfulness, self-care, positive connections, and purpose are the five pillars that make up resilience. We are gaining resilience by striving to improve these five pillars, and as a result, we are better able to handle the stress in our lives.

The five pillars are:

1. Self-awareness – being aware of one’s own personality, including its qualities, shortcomings, emotions, and motivations, is known as self-awareness. Additionally, it enables us to comprehend how individuals around us see us.

2. Mindfulness – the ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we are doing, without becoming unduly reactive or overwhelmed by what is happening around us, is known as mindfulness. You are engaging in mindfulness whenever you are conscious of what you are sensibly experiencing.

3. Self-care – everyone’s definition of self-care is unique. It is the act of doing anything to keep or enhance our health. It is our responsibility to actively pursue self-care.

4. Positive Relationships – these work precisely like how they sound. People in our lives who support and care for us as well as how we feel about them are examples of healthy, positive relationships.

5. Purpose – our thinking and attitude towards other people and our experiences are shaped by our sense of purpose. It enables us to understand that we are a part of or are serving something greater than ourselves. We can find meaning in our relationships with our families, political parties, and religious institutions.

The ability to apply these five pillars of resilience can reframe our thinking and help us see ourselves and the world in new ways. However, maintaining these talents needs practice. This all-encompassing approach to resilience can have a considerable positive impact on our general wellbeing while also assisting us in better managing the stress in our everyday lives.

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Mental Toughness

Our capacity for improved response when presented with trying circumstances is the very definition of mental toughness.

We frequently associate toughness with our physical prowess, such as our capacity to finish a climb in the bitter cold or to labor continuously for long periods of time. Toughness, though, can also refer to what the mind is capable of.

When faced with stress or difficult circumstances, we can better control our thoughts, emotions, and energies if we have a strong, robust mind. Finally, we develop the capacity to maintain composure no matter what challenges we face.

We develop the ability to sit through any discomfort that challenging thoughts and feelings may cause… and then let them go. We can develop mental toughness and resilience from this place we made for ourselves where we can be compassionate to ourselves.

Some of us might be uncomfortable with the idea of vulnerability. We could mistake vulnerability for weakness and hide our emotions to project a robust exterior. However, a significant component of resilience and mental toughness is vulnerability.

Let’s briefly return to physical toughness. What if we viewed physical strain, pain, or discomfort as the fragility of our body? It doesn’t make us weak to be conscious of how tired our legs are as we get closer to the finish line.

As an alternative, we might check in with ourselves to see whether we should lean into it, use the sensation as fuel, and move forth. Alternatively, we could determine that today isn’t the day we complete. Because being mentally tough isn’t necessarily about persevering no matter what. Toughness can also be shown through letting go.

When we are unable to immediately let go of something that is dragging us down, vulnerability can be more difficult. But in order to get there, we can employ mindfulness.

For example, after being called out by our supervisor, we might explore why we were upset rather than burying our sentiments and going about our day. The first stage of letting go is becoming conscious of how this makes us feel. We’re one step closer to stating, ‘I’m not going to let this ruin my day’ when we can express our upset feelings by saying, ‘Wow, that really hurt my feelings’ or ‘I’m angry because this now makes my job harder’.

Certain situations or difficulties may make being vulnerable more difficult. Being kind to ourselves can still include practicing mindfulness even when we are unable to immediately let go of something that is significantly burdening us. Resilience occasionally simply requires time. Any mental exercise is mental training. The run itself matters, not the outcome.

Science supports the advantages of meditation for mental toughness. According to one study, using Headspace (a well-known mental health provider in Australia) for 30 days of meditation increased mental toughness by 11%. Another study found that utilizing Headspace for 30 days lowered stress by a third. Additionally, in a small study involving US Marines, who may have one of the most demanding jobs, researchers discovered that those who participated in ‘mindfulness-based mind fitness training’ showed significant stress recovery after completing the program. This program was created to help participants build resilience and prepare them for stressful situations that have been known to result in PTSD and anxiety.

To enjoy the advantages of a resilient mind, it’s not necessary to first become a Marine. Resilience is available to all of us. We can all develop the ability to overcome obstacles in life and adapt. We respond more effectively and with greater mental acuity when we practice meditation. We also reap general benefits for our mental wellness. According to research, stress-reduction techniques like meditation can actually “reverse” the DNA that is connected to depression on a molecular level, which is a pretty amazing feat.

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Case Study: The Psychology of Hope and Resilience

The following case study was conducted by an individual who was an inpatient at a psychiatric hospital being treated for Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder (PTSD).

The personal experience of this individual peaked their interest further and led them to a desire to understand mental health on a deeper level, as well as the possibilities for the reduction and prevention of individuals experiencing mental health conditions.

Anxiety disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop as a result of trauma.

PTSD was first noted as ‘shell shock’ when soldiers returned home from the First World War suffering from mental health issues. Flashbacks (when a person relives the experience), nightmares, and intrusive thoughts are examples of some of the symptoms that these returned soldiers experienced.

Research studies now show that interpersonal trauma increases a person’s likelihood of developing PTSD. It is normal for people to employ coping mechanisms like self-medication or disassociation (feeling cut off from the outside world) when flashbacks or bothersome pictures and feelings appear. Conversely, Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) emphasizes the advantages of adversity, or the bright side, if you will.

Over the years, I have received diagnoses for depression, bipolar disorder, and emotional instability disorder, but as someone who endured a horrific upbringing, PTSD made the most sense to me.

Due to the fact that PTSD can go dormant before being awakened years later, my state was activated when my daughter was born two and a half years ago. Rumination, which is described as repeatedly revisiting an unpleasant thought without coming to a resolution, is a sign of many mental illnesses, including PTSD.

This has had a significant impact on how PTSD has affected me. While anxiety is focused on the present, sadness is focused on the past (rumination). The solution must be to live in the present if compulsively focusing on the past or the future is unhealthy.

In an effort to promote a comprehensive approach to mental health and society at large, Hakan Nilsson (2014) offers a Four-Dimensional Model of Mindfulness. The model has four components:

a) the physical (the body);

b) the social;

c) the existential; and

d) the spiritual.

The practical aspect, or practicing mindfulness in mundane daily routines. The mental aspect, which includes intrusive and unfavorable automatic thoughts. Deep concentrated breathing should be used to track thoughts and then let them go. Training in mindfulness can help people control their emotions by decreasing their negative habitual thinking. The social component, or the group’s fellow participants’ support. The existential dimension, which gives life purpose. This has a connection to logotherapy, which was inspired by Victor Frankl’s’ search for meaning’ (1984).

Not only is attending a group mindfulness class (b) above not practicable for me, I like to be careful while I’m alone because I stay at home. Without outside distractions, it enables me to fully engage with the task.

I first learned about mindfulness while participating in a Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) program. At that time, I became aware of my inability to focus in a group setting. The main aspects of mindfulness that we learned were its mental and physical processes.

Every week a new 2-minute mindful exercise was presented to us, such as deliberately eating a piece of chocolate, blowing bubbles with a partner, or seeing our unfavorable thoughts floating away along a river or stream.

What particularly appeals to me about the model is its existential component. I have believed that there must be a purpose for why I have gone through various experiences in my life for the most of my adult life, but I am unable to get myself to believe in an all-knowing entity. I do, however, agree with the teachings of Sartre (1966) and Frankl (1984).

According to Sartre, only we are able to design our own life. People must actively create their lives through their decisions and choices. His theories would have fit in nicely with positive psychology and deliberate initiatives for wellbeing promotion in the twenty-first century.

After chronicling his time spent living in a concentration camp during World War Two, Frankl also asserted that we are responsible for giving our lives purpose (Frankl, 1984). He said that even in dire situations, we all have a choice. We make the decision to find meaning in the circumstance, to hold out hope, and to avoid apathy. Both men concur that developing a meaningful life as an individual requires conscious action.

DBT and Positive Psychoeducational Coaching

In order to treat borderline patients, psychologist Marsha Linehan developed DBT in the 1990s. She discovered that individuals experiencing PTSD displayed excessive emotional reactivity and were too sensitive to respond favorably to conventional CBT.

Her new curriculum included radical acceptance, skill development, and validation. These are the components I want to include in a program for psychoeducational group coaching.

Four modules are covered in the DBT program: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal skills. The module on distress tolerance was the most helpful to me. It educates someone to be able to put up with discomfort. Everyone experiences psychological or emotional discomfort occasionally since we are only human. By learning to tolerate these feelings, we can learn to accept them as part of daily life.

As is the case in a lot of countries around the world, access too counselling services can have lengthy waiting periods – in some cases, with a wait of up to 30 weeks. As an interim measure, patients are frequently prescribed medication when it might not be necessary if they were able to access a group coaching program.

Coaching is a practical strategy for assisting people in managing the development or enhancement of their talents. A coach will enable coaching, which is a process that is solution-focused for both personal and professional issues.

There are many different types of coaching, such as executive coaching, personal development coaching and mentoring which is geared towards professional and business achievements. In contrast, life coaching and wellness coaching support the individual’s own goals and ideals.

Perhaps it is time for psychoeducational coaching to take center stage so that individuals can support their mental wellness before the need to access secondary care (being treatment by a psychologist, psychiatrist or inpatient care in a psychiatric hospital) is required.

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Exercise 6.8: The Perfection Trap

Break into 2 groups of 3 participants and 1 group of 4 participants.

As individuals, answer the following questions:

In which areas of your life do you expect perfection from yourself?

In which areas do you expect perfection from your partner, children, pets, family, friends?

What emotions do you experience in those moments when you fail to meet the perfection mark?

How do you feel? What do you do? What do you say to yourself?

How does it feel when your partner, children, pets, family or friends fail to meet the perfect standard you set for them?

How do you feel? What do you do? What do you say to yourself?

What is your reaction when efforts to be perfect aren’t good enough (that is, when you, or those around you fail to be perfect)?

How do you feel? How do you react? What do you do? (for example, do you stop eating, over-eat, binge drink and so on)?

In this moment, what wisdom can you share with yourself about the importance of kindness and compassion to yourself in moments when you feel like you fail?

Write down three ways you can use this wisdom to help you experience moments of ‘failure’ in the future?

How will you remind yourself to be kind and compassionate in the moment?

What steps can you take to support yourself to experience ‘failure’ in a different way?

Is there someone you trust that can help bring you into the present moment when you’re hard on yourself?

Who is that person/people? What can they say to help you/do for you in those moments?

Share your answers with the other members of your group. Make note of anything they share that could also be helpful to you in dealing with ‘failed perfection’ moving forward.

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Course Manual 9: Social Resilience

Introduction

Social resilience is the ability of social groupings and communities to react well to and/or bounce back from crises as they occur. Disasters are now experienced by the general population in ways that have never been seen before. Responding positively to these events is a way of expressing social resilience.

With the connectivity that we now enjoy through technological advances, it doesn’t matter where in the world the most recent disaster has occurred, we see photographs and video footage of it on every social media channel and every time a new brief is shared on every TV station. It is easier than ever to travel to most countries and that makes it simple for us to visit disaster locations to ‘see the catastrophe’ for ourselves. In fact, there is a whole niche within the tourism industry that caters to our being able to do this now – the ‘Ground Zero’ memorial in New York City is the perfect example of this.

With this increased exposure comes the realization that just as governments cannot prevent every disaster from occurring, nor can they insulate people from all of the effects of them – in the short or the long-term. For instance, it is well known that Australia is innately susceptible to natural disasters such as floods and bushfires. The Australian government can, and does, mitigate the risks of these happening, but they cannot prevent them completely.

Officials remind us of the complexities and inevitabilities, despite the fact that some recent preventative efforts have been successful and that our democratic culture and participation in various military deployments are frequently linked to an increased risk of terrorism.

So, if we cannot completely prevent disasters from occurring, the next natural question to answer becomes: ‘What can be done to minimize interruption and damage if disasters cannot be completely prevented and people shielded from their effects?’.

The answer: Strengthening the resilience of groups and communities. Around the world, this is rapidly becoming the new top priority for many government and non-governmental organizations, and they are addressing this through research, the development of policies and programs, as well as crisis management and education initiatives. For instance, in Australia, Building Individual and Community Resilience is the current research goal of Emergency Management Australia (EMA).

However, we must first comprehend resilience in order to properly foster it. This research presents an understanding of social resilience in order to achieve that.

It offers a foundation on which to build workable solutions to improve social resilience and to direct the focus of future study in this area.

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Three characteristics of social resilience

Social resilience is, in general, the ability of a social entity (such as a group or society) to ‘bounce back’ or react favorably to adversity.

More specifically, resistance, recovery, and creativity are three characteristics of social resilience that comprise features of how people react to disasters. Each of these characteristics can be seen in a community that is very resilient.

Resistance

A community’s efforts to withstand a calamity and its effects are referred to as resistance. It can be explained in terms of the amount of disruption that can be handled without the community going through long-term change, including changing its social structure. The gap between the community’s pre-disaster level of functioning and a point beyond which it would be impossible for it to recover to its normal condition is where their resistance as a community sits.

Resistance, and the point where a community can’t function as normal anymore, are far apart for extremely resistant communities. This means that a significant disturbance is required to bring the community to a place where it can no longer cope and needs to implement disaster recovery protocols. In less resistant communities, the gap is less and therefore it takes a smaller scale event to force them to change.

Recovery

The ability of a society to ‘pull through’ a tragedy is referred to as recovery. This characteristic is what specifically alludes to the notion of a community ‘bouncing back’ to its level of functioning prior to a tragedy. In contrast to a less resilient community, which recovers more slowly or fails to recover at all, a more resilient community swiftly and effectively returns to its pre-disaster state.

Creativity

An ideal recovery does not merely include going back to the initial equilibrium state. Instead, improved levels of functioning (and hence resilience) can be reached through adjusting to new circumstances and learning from the disaster experience. This quality of creativity is demonstrated by a rise in resilience attained during the healing process.

Consider the example of a school community that is impacted by a disaster to provide context. One can envision a resistance level beyond which the school community undergoes irreversible transformation.

For example, a particularly severe disaster may cause many deaths in the community, leaving survivors too afraid or disorganized to attend school, causing the school’s eventual closure.

A more resilient community can offer assistance to educators and students so that regular operations (such restarted courses) can happen swiftly.

To achieve higher levels of post-disaster resilience, a creative community may in fact draw lessons from the event and instruct its members on how to better prepare for catastrophes in the future (for example, educating people how to spot tsunami warning signals).

In an ongoing process, a resilient community:

• predicts and anticipates disasters;

• absorbs, responds and recovers from the shock; and

• improvises and innovates in response to disasters.

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Social resilience is complex

Disaster resistance should not be considered a distinct capability of a community. Multiple social groups exist in even seemingly simple societies, and these groupings differ significantly from one another.

Groups may vary in terms of their socioeconomic standing, level of isolation from other areas, or susceptibility to psychological stress. These group differences may mean that different groups within the one society can be more or less resilient to a disaster.

The resources available to vulnerable social groups, such as the elderly, children, or the economically underprivileged, may be less. According to Oxfam (2005), this was amply illustrated by the tsunami that struck South-East Asia in December 2004. In various countries affected by the tsunami, women were disproportionately impacted. Specifically, more women than males were slain in Indonesia, India, and Sri Lanka.

The resulting demographic changes (the gender imbalance) may have a number of long-term negative social consequences, including poor treatment of women and unequal economic freedoms.

Non-government organizations such as Oxfam are attempting to counter such problems by involving women in medical, fire and police roles; registering houses in the names of women as well as men; supporting women’s livelihoods; and ensuring wage parity across genders.

As well as supporting the recovery of the community, these sorts of activities are a form of creativity. That is, they act to increase the social resilience of the community so that it can minimize similar consequences in the event of another disaster.

Thus, in order to truly understand the social impacts of disasters, and to manage and prevent adverse consequences, we must understand the impacts of disasters on particular groups.

Moreover, it is important to identify the potential ‘fracture points’ or social cleavages within a community. From this, it may be possible to predict future breakdowns in social resilience in disasters, and to design preventative initiatives.

It is also true that the resilience of a community can vary with different types of disasters. Disasters cover a broad spectrum of events, and can be differentiated in terms of their agent (natural or human caused), proximity, impact (visible or invisible), size, scope, duration, magnitude, and the number of deaths.

Furthermore, individuals can be resilient and vulnerable at the same time, depending on the type of disaster. A community in a bushfire-prone area might have the social resources to deal with a bushfire, as an experience they are used to.

However, at the same time, the community might be more vulnerable to pandemic influenza as an experience they are not used to and lack the social resources to deal with.

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Indicators of Social Resilience

The identification of reliable indices of social resilience is a crucial first step for future research. Although there is already a general understanding of what constitutes a resilient community, there is very little research that systematically identifies these traits. Methodologically, this could entail comparing communities that have reacted differently to similar calamities in order to identify indicators that predict higher levels of resilience.

Importantly, global events such as the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic has shown that organizations need to understand the importance of building social resilience levels within their day-to-day business operations.

According to the literature to date, several key characteristics could be significant in building social resilience within communities. These characteristics include:

• Trust

• Leadership

• Group efficacy

• Social capital

• Social cohesiveness and a sense of belonging

• Participation in the community

• Current conventions, attitudes, and values

• Information and communication

• Resource dependence

Research is needed to ascertain which of these (if any) predict resilience-related outcomes, how much they overlap, and whether these factors are indeed influenced by more basic processes.

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Tackling Social Resilience

Because of the increase in the visibility of disasters around the world, increasing social resilience in all communities has become a key focus of significant organizations, including the likes of the United Nations who have taken steps to create a Social Resilience Guide (SRG).

While this guide focuses on creating social resilience in urban settings, the information provided can be used by organizations to guide their steps in creating social resilience within their work communities as well.

The guide discusses an urban communities’ resilience and their ability to, ‘…with its inhabitants, maintain continuity through all shocks and stresses, while positively adapting and transforming toward sustainability’. It goes on to declare that a ‘… resilient city assesses, plans and acts to prepare for and respond to hazards – natural and human-made, sudden and slow onset, expected and unexpected – in order to protect and enhance people’s lives, secure development gains, foster an investible environment, and drive positive change’.

In particular, the SRG considers the way any and every person can play a vital role in ensuring that cities are resilient and sustainable, regardless of their personal traits. It takes into account the ability of communities to effectively give the inhabitants a voice and include them as active resources in developing resilient actions at the community level, drawing on a variety of pertinent data that support a better understanding of all the individuals within the community and their status.

To positively adapt, people and societies require those adaptive capacities that allow them to be proactive and act in a preventive manner, learning from past experiences, anticipating future risks, and adjusting their way of life accordingly.

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To maintain continuity, people and societies need coping capacities understood as reactive and absorptive measures to cope with and overcome immediate threats.

In order to transform, people and societies require transformative capacities that allow them to effectively utilize resources and support from the economic, political, and social spheres. This allows them to actively participate in decision-making and decision-implementation processes and can help them consolidate an institutional landscape that both enhances individual welfare and fosters societal robustness in the face of future challenges and crises.

From this vantage point, the SRG takes into account three analytical strands that are in line with resilience principles and that adhere to the logic of data gathering, diagnosis, and the formulation of resilient action:

The first is concerned with understanding vulnerability from a social perspective, taking into account all categories of people in vulnerable situations from a human rights perspective.

The second is concerned with determining the accessibility of all categories of services and utilities meeting people’s needs.

And the third is concerned with developing resilience-building measures that are tailored to local needs and implementable by local stakeholders.

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Understanding the community from the human perspective

One of the greatest ways and organization can build social resilience is to understand the impact of significant challenges on their people. When you know your people, you can better understand the strengths that they collectively bring to the organization, and it also allows you to identify where there might be stress points that create further challenges when the going gets tough.

In order to understand the strength of the social resilience within the organization, it is important to look at the economic, technical, and environmental imperatives, but also the demands of the individual as a whole. There are many different ways to categorize human needs, but one of the most notable is the ‘Fundamental Human Needs and Human-scale Development‘ developed by Manfred Max-Neef. This scale holds that human needs are universal across all human cultures and historical eras, interconnected, and interactive, but independent of any hierarchical structure (like the Maslow pyramid). There are nine basic human needs listed in this classification: sustenance, protection, affection, understanding, participation, leisure, creation, identity, and freedom. A 36-cell matrix (nine requirements, four existential categories) has been created using these dimensions.

They are also characterized in terms of the existential categories of being, having, doing, and interacting. The SRG goes beyond an ontological approach and examines the connections between human needs and the community system by addressing three main resilience relevant events for human needs:

1. International frameworks for sustainable development of the community, with a focus on the strategies of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Agenda.

2. The human rights-based approach to development programs, particularly into the CRPT.

3. The ‘leave no one behind’ key concept in the NUA is recognized as the main principle and as the necessary commitment covering the social dimension of sustainability with interconnected impacts in a sustained prosperity for all, with a focus on disadvantaged and marginalized people living in vulnerable situations.

There is much for organizations to learn from the SRG model that the UN has created. Social resilience is a key area for organizations to be concerned about and it goes much deeper than simply asking your individuals to continually develop their own personal resilience levels.

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Case Study: What is Social Resilience? Perspectives of Disaster Researchers, Emergency Management Practitioners and Policy Makers in New Zealand

The analysis of the fundamental factors influencing community resilience is becoming more and more important.

A large portion of the research that has already been done on resilience assessments evaluates variables related to a variety of societal domains, including the social, economic, institutional, infrastructural, and environmental contexts.

The value of social resilience, or the ability of individuals and groups to cope with stresses and shocks from the outside world, has been studied in relation to community preparedness, disaster response, and post-disaster rehabilitation.

Researchers from a wide range of academic fields have studied social resilience as a part of community resilience. This concept is evaluated in a wide variety of ways as a result.

The viewpoints of hazards researchers, emergency management practitioners, and policymakers from the Wellington region of New Zealand to better understand what social resilience implies at the community level were the main focus of the studies that were conducted.

Their responses showed that these three sectors’ perceptions of social resilience were similar. In general, the community meeting space, social support, awareness of risks and repercussions, collective efficacy, and a sense of belonging are the social resilience traits that are emphasized the most.

Introduction

The necessity of creating resilient communities has received significant attention in the last few decades as a result of the increased number of disasters that are occurring. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 calls for an ‘all-of-society’ and ‘all-of-State institutions’ engagement approach to disaster risk reduction that places a strong emphasis on the crucial role that local governments and communities play in reducing vulnerabilities and boosting community resilience.

The need to pinpoint the elements that influence community vulnerabilities and resilience is expanding as local communities start putting national and sub-national catastrophe resilience strategies into action.

Due to their ability to help local stakeholders and governments detect resilience gaps and assess development and investment initiatives, these characteristics have served as the foundation for the burgeoning field of research on disaster resilience assessments.

Diverse resilience indicators have been developed as a result of government and scientific efforts to understand what factors contribute to community disaster resilience.

Many of these indicators are centered on social, economic, physical, natural, and/or institutional systems and conditions. The social resilience of organizations and communities has drawn the attention of scholars from a wide range of academic fields as a component of community resilience.

However, most of the current analyses have concentrated on city-level or greater scales of investigation. It is unclear whether these indicators are applicable and relevant at the sub-city or community level as research on the value of social resilience and how it supports community preparedness, disaster response, and post-disaster recovery becomes more prevalent.

Community resilience measurement

To measure a society’s ability to overcome obstacles both before and after a disaster, it is important to use resilience metrics. However, it is important to note that there are a lot of differences in how resilience is evaluated and there is also significant differences regarding what is actually being measured, despite the fact that there are a growing number of instruments and models for measuring it. For instance, some measurements are made using an idiographic (bottom-up) measurement process whilst others use a nomothetic (top-down) methodological approach. Both measurement have their legitimacies so it comes down to ensuring that whichever method you choose to use is used consistently to measure results across time.

A resilient community is/has the following characteristics which have been thematically evaluated and categorized over time:

• community governance

• having plans in place

• having strong leadership at both the grassroots and governmental levels

• awareness of risks and hazards

• awareness of community assets and gaps

• accessibility to resources, including human, financial, and material resources.

Relationships between social and other aspects of community resilience

One of the elements of social resilience that was identified was the connections between social and other aspects of community resilience (such as economic resilience).

One of the challenges in demarcating social resilience factors is their interdependence and interlinked relationships with other resilience factors. This is an incredibly important point for organizations to understand because it demonstrates the interconnectedness of resiliency of different areas of the business. Each area of resilience is dependent on the other areas to hold its own in a time of challenge so that there are no weak points that bring the organization crashing down.

Conclusion

With an increasing investment in building communities that are resilient to natural hazards, it is crucial to track progress towards resilience.

However, challenges abound when trying to measure community resilience, whether that stems from the very definition of resilience or disagreements between different stakeholders on what should be measured and how to go about measuring it.

These challenges boil down to one fundamental question: resilience of what and for whom?

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Exercise 6.9: Exploring Past Resilience

Break into 2 groups of 5 participants.

As a group, answer the following questions:

Think about a recent challenge that the organization has faced.

Write down what the challenge was and what you believe were the most difficult aspects of this situation.

How did the organization cope at the time?

What level of economic resilience did the organization show? Was the technology resilient in the face of the challenge?

How did the human resources cope with the challenge? Were there plans in place to effectively deal with the challenge? Were there appropriate material resources on hand to deal with the challenge?

What other issues were faced during the challenge and how did the organization cope with them?

Reflecting on your answers to question 2, would you say that the organization had appropriate social resilience levels to deal with the challenge?

Did the organization effectively solve the issues that it faced through the challenge?

Give the organization a rating of 1% – 100% (where 1% is almost non-existent and 100% is the perfect level) for where the social resilience of the organization was at the time of the challenge.

Write down whether you believe that the social resilience of the organization has improved or declined since facing this challenge. Explain why you believe this is the case.

What areas do you believe the organization needs to focus on to improve its current social resilience levels?

Share your answers with the main group.

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Course Manual 10: Concepts of Resilience

Introduction

In order to overcome and manage the difficulties, changes, and losses of life, resilience calls for the application of six key concepts:

Self-empowerment

When faced with conflict or informed of a sudden change at work, the brain’s fight-or-flight reaction loves to erupt. But being able to suppress that automatic emotional reaction and keep your cool frequently requires the ability to spot missed chances and find creative solutions to challenges. This is because getting emotional makes it difficult for you to access your capacity for critical thought.

Also, the little things matter. It’s so important to maintain composure and empower ourselves, not only during major emergencies but also during mundane daily occurrences. Why bother getting fired up in a traffic gridlock when being emotional is never helpful? Keeping your cool allows you to conserve your energy for the vital things by allowing you to remain composed.

Empowering ourselves allows us to overcome things such as bias in interpretation. For example, if your boss was to say to you: ‘I need to talk to you – please come and see me later’, is your reaction one of fear or wondering what you’ve done wrong, or are you feeling like there’s something good about to happen? The truth is, you don’t know until you’re in the meeting.

According to research, those who naturally have a tendency to view ambiguous events negatively are six times more likely to experience depressive symptoms, whereas those who naturally have a tendency to understand them positively are more resilient.

To embrace self-empowerment, it is also key to learn to step up and take initiative. It is also critical to understand your personal beliefs and expectations, because knowing what these are will help you to identify the things that will first cause your emotions to occur.

For instance, the only thing in life you can count of happening is change. Sometimes that’s big and sometimes it’s small but it often comes as a surprise and when you’re least expecting it. Therefore, being prepared to be flexible and to be able to accommodate needing to do some things a little bit differently can help you to handle change much better when it arrives.

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Future outlook

Vision, the most crucial domain, is concerned with your sense of purpose, your objectives, and your unique vision for yourself. Because all other domains are determined by what you hope to accomplish, this is the most crucial domain. Having clarity in this area enables you to make quick decisions when faced with difficult options and to keep your perspective when faced with difficulties. It doesn’t matter if your objectives are related to your family, your job, or a side project; what matters is being clear and detailed.

Clarity aids concentration. If you don’t have a clear goal in mind, it is simple to become distracted by trivial occurrences and details. Considering that you didn’t have anything else scheduled, why not ‘binge-watch’ the newest season of a television series you’ve been enjoying? When times are rough, having clarity about what is important and what is not will help you maintain focus and work towards your objectives.

The goal is to be consistent. Congruence is the state in which all of your actions are in line with your overall goals, sense of purpose, and medium- and short-term vision. Lack of clarity on these increases the likelihood that some of your goals may conflict, which will frustrate you because advancing towards one goal will cause you to move farther away from the other. Instead, if your activities are in harmony, everything you do gradually takes you closer to your ultimate objectives and enables you to accomplish things that others would have thought impossible.

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Social interaction

We have a social nature. The need for social interaction is a basic, fundamental requirement for the brain to survive. The brain contains specific neural networks for recognizing facial expressions, and mirror neurons that help us empathize with others also fire in the brain. Since we are all in this together, what we do and concentrate on should benefit not only us individually but also our communities as a whole and the environment. The Collaboration domain is focused on this link.

Give and receive support. Few of us can do anything significant alone in the complex environment we live in, therefore it’s critical that we create support networks that will serve as both our own safety net and the safety net for others. It’s interesting to note that research indicates that when it comes to mental wellbeing, impression of assistance is more significant than actual access to it. Therefore, even if 100 people are willing to help you, you won’t feel like you have their support if you don’t realize it. Recall this for others as well and let those you love know you are there for them whenever they need you.

Set the scene correctly. Understanding the context of your interactions with individuals is a crucial component of collaboration. Spending time with friends on the weekend and attending a meeting at work are two completely different situations.

For instance, it’s crucial to keep things professional, avoid taking things personally, and concentrate more on the facts than the feelings when working. At home, dealing with emotions is crucial for preserving strong relationships; it’s not always about the facts. To achieve a high score in collaboration, you must be able to recognize the appropriate behavior in various situations in order to maintain the status quo and foster productive connections.

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Life quality

This is perhaps the most fundamental of all the concepts as have a high quality of life, including good health, a safe place to live and the means to comfortably live without high levels of stress are critical to maintaining strong resilience levels.

Maintaining good health entails taking care of your body through your diet, exercise, and restful sleep. Your resilience is supported by a healthy body, allowing you to concentrate on your sense of purpose and objectives. Having good health is a means to an end rather than the ultimate objective in and of itself.

Nutrition has an impact on your mental function and brain health, so it’s not only about maintaining a healthy weight. Frequently eating high-fat, high-sugar foods (such as chocolate, ice cream, cookies, baked goods, burgers, etc.) actually inhibits the production of new brain cells in the brain. This lessens the brain’s plasticity and limits your capacity for mental adaptation.

More mistakes are made, one has a shorter attention span, and it is less able to handle stress. Cortisol, the stress hormone in the brain, is also increased. As the effects accumulate over time, the toll on your body, brain, and performance increases.

Sleep is important, but obtaining enough good sleep is equally as important as getting enough sleep in general.

Regular exercise has been shown to improve mental performance and learning capacity, so it’s not just about looking good. Long-term protection against neurodegenerative illnesses is another benefit. Exercise is therefore important even if you are satisfied with your appearance!

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Communication

When dealing with difficulties along the path, creativity and inventive problem-solving are really helpful, but being able to communicate what you are doing and why you are doing it can be the difference between walking the road alone and being able to convince others to walk with you and share the load.

Composure and vision are required to assist this concept so that you can maintain your focus and know what objectives to pursue with your actions.

Similar to self-empowerment, this concept involves taking proactive steps to avoid problems before they occur as well as using critical thinking when a crisis arises. Actually, the focus is primarily on taking the time to openly share what it is you’re doing. This is similar to visiting the dentist frequently to avoid needing a root canal in the future. Think proactively about how things can go wrong, take proactive steps in advance to prevent or reduce harm and share what’s happening, what you can see and how you’ve decided to deal with it.

Be creative. A broad range of knowledge, resources, skills, and contacts will make it easier for you to solve issues and discover more effective ways to accomplish your objectives. Communication helps us to actively work on developing our resourcefulness since it gets simpler to forge unique connections and come up with novel solutions the more resourceful we are.

Take advantage of change. A high level of reasoning suggests that you accept change because it constantly reveals new opportunities. Change is no longer a threat when you remain calm and are clear on your goals, and you can look for opportunities that others might have overlooked, which will help you succeed.

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Tenacity

The secret to being resilient is to learn to persevere. When he said, ‘It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer’, Einstein highlighted the value of perseverance for achievement.

Success is no longer a certainty in a globalized world. If we want to do anything, especially if we want to accomplish something no one else has, we must be willing to put in the time, effort, and intelligence necessary to solve a challenge.

Learn to bounce back from challenges and find the ways you can use what you learn from errors you have made.

Whenever we’re doing anything for the first time, we’re almost always experimenting with how it’s going to go. And, although we don’t like to admit it, we rarely perform actions correctly the first time. Mistakes happen, even when performing tasks we are familiar with whether it’s at work, at home, or with friends. Everybody makes errors, therefore what matters is how we respond to them.

Shaming oneself is ineffective. Instead, it’s crucial to be able to look at our errors with objectivity, learn from them, and avoid letting them define who we are. It is better to learn from the past than to wallow in it.

People who have unrealistic expectations of success are less likely to achieve because they tend to give up when things get difficult. A sense of ‘realistic optimism’, or the confidence that comes from knowing that the road ahead will be full of challenges AND achievements, is more helpful for success.

This insight, along with the readiness to persevere, is what eventually results in success for people, teams, and organizations.

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Improving Resilience

It’s not hard to see or accept that stress makes us less than our finest selves. Being resilient can help us to deal with higher levels of stress in the short-term, but long-term exposure to people, places and things that require us to constantly build higher levels of resilience is not sustainable.

Having said that, there are things we can do to help us improve our resilience to move more smoothly through short-term trials and tribulations.

We all have varying degrees of resilience. The more robust we are, the less probable it is that a stressor would knock us down and the quicker we can get back up. This is undoubtedly advantageous. Returning to our optimum state as soon as possible enhances performance and lowers our susceptibility to stress.

Our capacity to strengthen our resilience can be divided into three components:

• Awareness

• Wellbeing, and

• Coping.

All three of these areas are amenable to development, which would raise our general level of resilience as people.

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Awareness

Growing our resilience starts with understanding how we react to various circumstances and how various things impact us.

Understanding what stresses us out can help us become more resilient.

Are your stressors visible to you?

Understanding the types of things that bring us down, how they bring us down, and how we feel while doing so will help us rise above them. We can get better at anticipating stressors, avoiding them, mitigating their effects, and rationalizing them when we do experience them.

There are two key places we can start when looking to increase our awareness. Understanding our causes of stress and how we react to it (how it makes us feel) is important.

To do this, we can consider instances in which we felt knocked off our perch and try to pinpoint what knocked us off in order to better understand our causes of stress.

Understanding these characteristics can help us anticipate our reactions to situations and take the proper preventative and mitigation measures.

We can also take a retrospective look at times where we have been stressed and note how those instances made us feel in order to better understand how we react to stress and how stress affects us.

Four great categories to start considering are:

• How we think (thoughts and decision-making),

• How we feel (emotions),

• How we are physically (how our bodies react to stress), and

• What we do (what unusual actions do we display).

We are more able to recognize when we are under stress and, consequently, better able to know when we should take remedial action by noting these signs and effects of stress and being aware of them.

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Being Well

Being well can be defined as making choices that lessen the amount of stress we experience daily and enhance our capacity to handle stress when it arises. We should establish good behaviors that promote our physical and mental health and wellbeing if we want to increase our resilience. We will find it easier to avoid the tensions that life throws at us all the more of these habits we develop.

There are numerous things we can do to ensure our wellbeing, and each of them will have a different level of effectiveness. The true challenge is figuring out what works for you.

Enhancing Physical Wellness

To sustain our physical selves, we must control our diets and what we eat, engage in a modest amount of physical activity, get plenty of sleep, and attempt to spend some time outside, in the natural world.

Increasing Resilience while Improving Wellbeing

Spending time outside and exercising enhance our wellbeing.

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Increasing Activity

If we want to increase our wellbeing through our activities, we must create time for activities that we find to be completely pleasant and that allow us to unwind. Additionally, we must schedule time for activities that actively renew and energize us. For every one of us, these activities take different forms.

Social Connections Can Improve Wellbeing

Two aspects stand out in terms of how social interaction might enhance our wellbeing.

First, we need to create and utilize a reliable support system. Regardless of whether you use your support network, even having one is beneficial.

Second, we ought to lend a hand. Helping others has enormous personal rewards for us since we are social beings. This could be carried out on a personal or volunteer basis. Or it could just entail making an effort to be considerate and helpful to others.

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Coping

When everything gets to be too much, coping is about being able to rapidly remount our perch. It refers to quick remedies, not long-term ones. It treats rather than prevents. Although coping is beneficial, it doesn’t deal with the underlying causes of our stress and pressure.

There are three key factors to take into account in order to help with crisis management:

• Combat your stress.

• Control your thoughts and feelings.

• Seek out help.

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Taking on Your Stressors Head-On

You might be able to eliminate tensions by confronting them right away. It’s critical to confront all of your stressors since they add up to more than simply the ones that are currently overpowering you. It can be worthwhile to begin this process by addressing any self-imposed tensions.

Keeping Your Mind in Check

By controlling your thoughts and emotions, you can strengthen your capacity for immediate calm and sanity, which will aid in overcoming your sense of overwhelm. Some of the things you can do in this regard are covered in earlier postings, but improving your emotional intelligence and your ability to control your inner dialogue can be quite beneficial. Planning some protective measures, such as taking deep breaths, meditating, going for a run, or something similar, can help.

Resilience Increases with Support

Getting help from others can be a big help.

Last but not least, receiving help when needed is beneficial for both the practical and emotional support it may offer. It’s beneficial to have a list of a few individuals you can contact if you’re feeling overwhelmed.

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Case Study: Trade Off Between Efficiency and Resiliency

The trade-off between durability and efficiency exists. Resilience is the capacity to adjust to significant or abrupt changes in the environment, whereas efficiency necessitates optimal adaptation to an existing environment. Efficiency has traditionally had the upper hand due to society’s emphasis on short-term rewards.

However, the persistent quest for efficiency removes obstacles that slow down and limit the scope of transactions and act as shock absorbers. In the face of ecological, geopolitical, and financial catastrophes, buffers offer resilience.

Three significant crises – the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 winter storm in Texas, and the Boeing 737 Max software problem – highlight the price of prioritizing efficiency above resilience and offer guidance for restoring social harmony.

The love affair Economists and Engineers have with Efficiency

Efficiency has long been the obsession of economics. Economic efficiency refers to the distribution or allocation of products and production to the most valuable uses while preventing or minimizing waste.

Free-market proponents contend that by allowing people to act in their own best interests and with the freedom to produce and consume things as they see fit, economic efficiency may be attained and society’s overall goals can be served. However, this equates effectiveness with the best result.

Technology is also plagued by the relentless emphasis on efficiency at the expense of robustness. Generations of computer scientists have been taught by society that computing efficiency is the key to understanding algorithms, the detailed instructions at the core of computer programs.

The analysis of algorithms, or the process of determining the amount of time, storage, or other resources needed to execute them, is the focus of ‘The Art of Computer Programming’, one of the founding texts of computer science.

In other words, this handbook treats algorithm design as a single-minded pursuit of efficiency.

What about resiliency, though?

Computer scientists must anticipate potential issues and incorporate workable workarounds into their algorithms in order to create resilient algorithms. After all, history has shown us that algorithms that are designed without resilience are effective yet unstable.

A hurricane, the pandemic, and some flawed software

When a crisis arises, fragile systems are more likely to fail than resilient ones. Nearly 200 people died in Texas in February 2021 as a result of Winter Storm Uri’s cold temperatures and power outages. The storm harmed the water and power networks because they lacked the weatherproofing components found in most of the rest of the country’s utility infrastructure.

Despite numerous early warnings, the harsh economic repercussions of not being prepared for a pandemic raise concerns about whether the obsessive pursuit of efficiency that has dominated conventional business orthodoxy for decades has made the global economic system more susceptible to disruptive changes.

A Boeing-branded twin-engine airplane descends through the air with its landing gear partially down.

The flight-control algorithm for the Boeing 737 Max serves as a striking illustration of a system that was created for efficiency rather than robustness. More effective engines were added to Boeing’s 737, a passenger airplane that was first manufactured more than 50 years ago.

The flight-control algorithm was built to compensate for any flight instability that was brought on by the retrofitting.

But because the system only used data from one sensor, when that sensor malfunctioned, it judged that the plane was stalling inaccurately. The algorithm responded by forcing the aircraft to drop in an effort to recover from a stall that wasn’t occurring.

Two terrible crashes and the subsequent nearly two-year grounding of hundreds of airplanes were the outcome. In hindsight, the engineers unnecessarily prioritized time to market and fuel efficiency at the expense of safety.

The cost of chaos

Why are there so many fragile systems in society if they are prone to disasters? One rationale is that systems that prioritize efficiency can reach a certain level of stability, barring catastrophes. According to a fundamental economics theorem, under specific conditions, a market will trend towards the Pareto-optimal equilibrium, a competitive balance point where economic efficiency is attained.

But how well does such a balance advance society as a whole? A group of computer scientists investigated whether or not equilibria might be advantageous or harmful from a computational standpoint. The systems under study are mathematically analogous to roads or fisheries and involve non-cooperative agents sharing a common resource.

They calculated a ratio known as the ‘Price of Anarchy’ that quantifies how far from the social ideal such uncooperative systems can be from the worst potential equilibrium, such as traffic congestion or overfishing, can exist. They demonstrated how high this ratio may get. In other words, achieving economic efficiency does not ensure that societal goals are achieved.

Because the fundamental variables, such as pricing, supply, and demand, are extremely likely to change as the systems are slowly moving towards convergence, the inference is that economic systems are very unlikely to ever be at an equilibrium.

So, rather than being a genuine reality, economic equilibrium, a key idea in economic theory, is mythical. This is not a defense of free markets, but it does call for a realistic perspective on them.

Free markets have the potential to be both effective and detrimental to society as a whole.

The cost of society’s inaction is demonstrated by the pandemic’s economic impact. Furthermore, COVID-19 might just be a prelude to the far greater approaching climate disaster, making resilience an increasingly crucial topic.

There seems to be a widespread understanding that the immeasurable agony and trauma of COVID-19 present societies with opportunities to improve. Both the Boeing 737 Max and Winter Storm Uri have similar lessons to be learned.

Societies can improve by moving away from the instant gratification culture that pervades the way we live and instead, putting more of an emphasis on resilience.

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Exercise 6.10: Creating Self-Awareness

Break into 2 groups of 5 participants.

As individuals, answer the following questions:

Write down 5 things you can see from where you are sitting.

Write down 5 things you would not normally notice:

Make sure these are things you wouldn’t ordinarily notice or pay attention to (for example, a shadow or a crack in the wall or lines on the floor).

Notice the things you can feel in this moment:

Will you notice the obvious things? Will you notice the things that you wouldn’t normally pay attention to? Write down all the things you can feel.

Tune into the sounds of your surroundings.

Write down the things you can hear in the background of where you are.

What can you smell? Are there smells you usually gloss over? What do you notice that you’ve never noticed before? Do the smells invoke any memories?

What can you taste? Are there tastes that are stronger than others? Are there tastes that overpower others? Are there tastes you would normally have missed because other tastes distracted you from noticing them?

Was there anything that came to mind as you were going through this exercise? Did one, some or all of the senses remind you of something or create a specific feeling or emotion?

Share your answers with your group members.

Could you connect with your senses?

Did specific information come to mind when connecting?

Did others have the same or similar answers?

What were the differences between the answers within the group?

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Course Manual 11: Resilience Scales

Introduction

We typically respond to tragedy, trauma, or severe psychological problems with grieving and other negative emotions.

Of course, when our expectations are dashed or our aims are defeated, this is a normal response. But in addition to being a necessary component of life, these experiences are also essentially necessary for growth and development.

Only when given the chance to solve challenging challenges do persistence and resilience develop.

Although there is no singular, widely accepted collection of variables that make someone resilient, the following traits and contributing aspects can serve as a useful framework:

• Optimism: People who are optimistic are also more resilient because they are more inclined to be upbeat about the future even in the face of challenges that appear overwhelming.

• Altruism: The most resilient people among us frequently turn to helping others to reduce stress and increase self-efficacy.

• Moral Compass: People who have a strong moral compass or a firm set of convictions about what is good and wrong typically recover more quickly.

• Faith and Spirituality: Although not a necessary component of resilience, people frequently discover that their faith helps them overcome obstacles and emerge stronger and wiser on the other side.

• Humor: People who can laugh at their own misfortune and have a healthy sense of humor are at an advantage when it comes to recovering, for obvious reasons!

• Having a Role Model: Although this is not a prerequisite for resilience, those who have someone in mind to follow in their footsteps can find motivation in doing so.

• Social Supports: It should come as no surprise that social support is crucial for resilience; people with strong social support networks are better able to recover from loss or disappointment.

• Facing Fear: This is less of a trait than it is a tendency to act, but those who are willing to step outside of their comfort zone and face their fears are more likely to succeed in overcoming obstacles and developing personally.

• Meaning or Purpose in Life: It shouldn’t come as a surprise that people who fervently believe they have a purpose in life or who find a great deal of meaning in their lives are more likely to bounce back from failure or disappointment. They are also less likely to give up when tragedy or loss strikes.

• Training: while some aspects of a person’s resilience may be fairly ingrained and immutable, there is still room for growth. Training can help you build resilience (Staroverky, 2012).

Because not all resilience measures have these elements, and there is no one agreed way of defining resilience, that makes it hard to create one specific way of measuring resilience. Therefore, a number of resilience scales have been developed over time.

It is simple to picture that there are various approaches to defining and measuring resilience when considering the numerous distinct components that make up the resilience machine. Resilience has been described in a practically infinite number of ways, and there are numerous techniques to measure it.

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Resilience Scales

The resilience scales listed below are all helpful tools for measuring resilience, but you’ll notice that they were all developed for various populations, based on various theories, and/or based on various components. One resilience scale might be more suitable than another depending on the situation in which it will be used.

Eight of the most commonly used scales include:

Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC)

In a study published in 2011, Windle, Bennett, and Noyes examined 19 resilience-related metrics. Only three of the 19 earned good psychometric evaluations, with the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) being one of them.

As a self-report resilience scale for the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) therapeutic community, Connor-Davidson created it in 2003 (CD-RISC, n.d.). It is a scale of 2, 10, and 25 items that has been validated and is commonly used to measure resilience as a function of five linked factors:

• individual competence;

• the capacity for change and stable connections;

• the effects of stress on belief, tolerance, and strength;

• command; and

• spiritual affiliations.

The CD-RISC is regarded as one of the highest scoring measures in the psychometric evaluation of resilience due to its extensive use in studies across a wide range of groups.

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Adult Resilience Scale (RSA)

The RSA, a different resilience scale highly regarded by numerous researchers, was developed as an adult self-report scale by Friborg et al. It is recommended for usage by those in the medical and clinical psychology fields.

The five score items on this scale look at both the intrapersonal and interpersonal protective variables that encourage adversity adaptation.

The scale items are based on dispositional attitudes and behaviors, which the authors, Friborg et al. (2003), identified as the primary elements that lead to highly resilient people. These factors include familial support and cohesion, outside support networks, and dispositional attitudes and behaviors:

• personal structure;

• social structure;

• social support;

• family coherence;l and

• personal competence.

The RSA was used to gauge the connection between personality, intelligence, and resilience in a later study by Friborg et al. Numerous connections between personality and resilience elements were discovered, including those between higher levels of emotional stability and personal competency. However, there were no noteworthy results pertaining to cognitive capacity (Friborg et al., 2005).

This is consistent with the findings of Windle et al. (2011), who came to the conclusion that the RSA is very effective in identifying the protective variables that prevent or function as a buffer against psychological diseases.

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Brief Resilience Scale

The Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), a self-rating questionnaire, measures a person’s ability to ‘bounce back from stress’ while most resilience evaluations focus on the elements that contribute to resilience. Although this scale hasn’t formally been utilized within clinical research, it may offer important information to those who are under stress linked to their health.

The BRS instrument has six items, three of which are positively worded and three of which are negatively written. All six relate to the person’s capacity to overcome hardship.

To produce a trustworthy resilience measure, the scale’s development took into account protective characteristics such social support.

There are numerous other resilience measures that have research to support their efficacy, however this scale has been identified as being a strong resilience measure that is highly valid and reliable.

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Resilience Scale

Despite being the oldest scale mentioned in these eight scales, many scholars continue to utilize the Resilience Scale.

The Resilience Scale was devised and validated by Wagnild and Young in 1993 using a sample of older individuals (aged 53 to 95). This scale has 25 items, and research has shown that the results have a good correlation with physical health, morale, and life satisfaction while having a negative correlation with depression.

The scale aims to assess resilience based on five crucial qualities:

• a meaningful life (or purpose);

• tenacity;

• independence;

• serenity; and

• existential solitude.

Two subscales—the 17-item Personal Competence subscale and the 8-item Acceptance of Self and Life subscale—are used to evaluate these five traits.

The scale’s internal consistency and construct validity were validated in 2009 by Wagnild, demonstrating the scale’s continued usefulness as a tool for the evaluation of resilience.

A reduced 14-item scale has also been shown to be valid and reliable for measuring resilience in addition to the original 25-item measure.

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Scale of Protective Factors (SPF)

Ponce-Garcia, Madwell, and Kennison created the Scale of Protective Factors (SPF) in 2015 to quantify resilience in its entirety.

The SPF was determined by the authors to be a valid and reliable measure for gauging resilience, particularly in groups classified as survivors of violent trauma. The authors evaluated and validated this resilience scale in a sample of around 1,000 college students.

Compared to the other seven scales discussed here, this scale measures resilience in a slightly different manner. Instead of directly addressing the elements that make up resilience, it focuses on the factors that work together to build a barrier between those who have suffered trauma and the stress and disruption to functioning that can follow.

24 items make up the test, which assesses two social-interpersonal aspects and two cognitive-personality factors.

Since then, many scholars have validated the SPF in a review of resilience scales, demonstrating its reliability and potency for clinical application.

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Predictive 6-Factor Resilience Scale

Based on the neurobiological foundations of resilience and the theorized association with health hygiene variables, the Predictive 6-Factor Resilience Scale was created by Roussouw & Roussouw in 2016.

The PR6 assesses resilience in relation to six domains involving a number of related concepts:

• Tenacity: persistence and hardiness are higher cognitive qualities.

• Composure: self-efficacy, goal-setting, emotional control.

• Vision: the capacity to recognize, comprehend, and respond to internal cues and physical signals.

• Reasoning: this is a higher cognitive attribute. It includes traits like problem-solving, resourcefulness, and flourishing.

• Health: including physiologic health.

• Collaboration: including psychological interaction, including safe attachment, social networks, context, and humor.

The PR6 was discovered to have strong internal consistency and to connect with other resilience measures and scores on personal hygiene. The PR6 can be regarded as an effective measurement and a particularly good assessment for use in enhancing resilience based on these findings.

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Ego Resilience Scale

Block and Kremen created this measure in 1996 to be used in contexts outside of psychiatry to assess resilience. Although the authors refer to their concept as ‘ego resiliency’, it is really just resilience as it is understood to be when one is able to adjust to changes in their environment.

The Resilience Scale (RS-14) consists of 14 items, each of which is scored on a scale of 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating higher levels of resilience.

In terms of adaptability, scores on this scale have been found to positively correlate with intellect, indicating the scale’s ability to gauge a person’s capacity to overcome setbacks and disappointment.

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Academic Resilience Scale (ARS-30)

Finally, a tool called the Academic Resilience Scale (ARS-30) was developed by Martin and Marsh in 2006 and was intended to evaluate resilience in a specific setting: academic success.

Academic resilience is widely accepted as the propensity to continue and achieve academic success in the face of difficulty. It is a multi-dimensional construct that emphasizes behavioral and cognitive reactions to academic adversity.

The ARS-30 is based on responses to vignettes that describe substantial academic challenges and are graded on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the most likely and 5 being the least likely.

This scale’s objects can be classified into one of three categories:

• Resilience

• Thinking and Flexible Help-Seeking

• Adverse Effect and Emotional Reaction

High resilience is indicated by high scores on factors 1 and 2 and low scores on factor 3.

This scale was determined to have a good level of internal consistency, and results showed a strong correlation with an indicator of academic self-efficacy. The ARS-30 is best used in academic settings, although results can be helpful in other contexts as well.

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Why Resilience at Work Matters

Nobody is a continually perfect employee, and everyone will occasionally encounter negative criticism or a professional setback.

This reality emphasizes the need for resilience in the workplace as a mechanism for workers to understand that they may have fallen short or failed, but that there is a way to pinpoint the most helpful next steps, and bounce back with vigor and passion to do it well the next time.

We frequently need to be resilient even in the face of favorable changes, therefore resilience is essential in situations other than the archetypal ones that require it to survive.

It’s easy for us to forget that the need for resilience is present whenever we are facing change – whether that brings challenge or greater things for us. The need for adaptation and rehabilitation may be triggered by increased responsibility, forwards movement, and big positive occurrences.

However, the requirement for resilience is typically highlighted by how people react to unfavorable change.

Lack of resilience can show up in the workplace in a variety of ways, such as the anxiety associated with giving a presentation in front of an audience, the anger felt after receiving feedback on one’s work, the guilt associated with not spending enough time with one’s family, or the embarrassment experienced following a meeting that didn’t go well.

Research has shown that there are five common emotions that are linked to a lack of resilience:

• anger;

• sadness or depression;

• guilt;

• anxiety or fear; and

• embarrassment.

Of course, it’s normal to occasionally experience these feelings. The key in identifying these feelings as signs of a lack of resilience lies in determining whether they are in proportion to the experience you have had or whether the same situation consistently causes the same emotion.

Lack of resilience can be a problem at work if it keeps you from improving your abilities and working well with others. For instance, if you’re afraid of speaking in front of others, you might choose not to participate in a conversation even when you have something to say. Another example is when you don’t see the opportunity to learn and advance your talents when someone gives you feedback on your performance and instead you get defensive in response to unfavorable criticism.

In other words, motivation, cognitive ability, and emotional wellbeing can all be negatively impacted right away by a lack of resilience. When there is a substantial lack of resilience, it can result in feelings of helplessness and victimization.

Alternatively, despite of the trauma and challenges that life can bring, we all know folks who quickly get back up and brush themselves off after a setback. Resilient individuals practice their resilience by analyzing and considering all of their options before to acting. They are less likely to repeat unsuccessful past experiences because of these inclinations.

Resilience doesn’t meant that we never experience emotions again. Nor does it mean that challenges don’t affect us. Rather, high resilience levels give us the ability to experience everything that is going on whilst still being able to acknowledge the feelings as they come up, determine whether they are appropriate, accept responsibility for our lack of resilience, if any, and use the tools to reframe our experiences if we want to succeed and thrive at work (and at home, for that matter).

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Arguments for Organizations to Focus on Resilience

Understanding the signs of a lack of resilience in the workforce is crucial for organizations, and teaching their leaders and workers how to handle challenging circumstances and all circumstances of change will help them become more resilient.

Following are some of the most crucial reasons why businesses should recognize the factors that contribute to resilience and begin implementing programs that do so:

Employee Wellness in General

Resilience skills significantly boost employees’ psychological welfare by helping them reframe their sense of stress, even though organizations might strive to address workload difficulties concurrently. Every organization should take employee welfare into account since healthy, content staff are more productive.

Employment Development

Learning to deal with challenging work circumstances, such as negative criticism, will be beneficial for employees who want to advance their careers and expand their skill sets. Managers who comprehend the dynamics of resilience are far better equipped to coach their staff.

According to research, people—and women in particular—who tend to blame themselves for their mistakes run the danger of losing confidence, a problem that can be solved by learning resilience skills.

Creativity and the Learning Curve

In order to thrive in this economic environment, the majority of businesses must continuously innovate. Employees must always work to preserve and improve their skills, according to this. The so-called learning curve, which is essentially the experience of a decline in skill and motivation as people learn to use a new skill, can hinder this. If the acquired abilities are not adequately implemented, this can be irritating and even result in stagnation.

In order to ensure effective learning and lay the foundation for successful innovation, managers who recognize that their staff members are exhibiting signs of “non-resilience” during this learning curve (rather than misinterpreting the same behavior as, for example, non-cooperation) can step in right away and start providing the necessary support.

Teamwork

Our interpersonal interactions frequently show our resilience level in action. In order to improve team dynamics and reduce negative feelings among team members, leaders can help employees analyze their thought processes and alter how they interpret situations by identifying the usual behaviors associated with a lack of resilience.

Simply put, resilient workers make better workers overall. They overcome obstacles in unique ways, build and maintain stronger defenses against stress and anxiety, and more quickly bounce back from the setbacks that everyone occasionally faces.

According to positive psychologist Paula Davis-Laack, there are seven ways that resilient workers vary from other workers in ways that are advantageous to both themselves and their employer.

Highly resilient workers:

• Create meaningful relationships.

• Effectively handle stress and prevent burnout.

• Act honestly and in line with their strengths and values.

• Gain grit (the will and commitment to pursue long-term goals).

• Discover significance in their work.

• Maintain flexibility and mental toughness, and

• Actively manage change and setbacks.

Most managers would concur that these seven traits are highly desired in employees. These workers are the ones who innovate, generate high-quality work, and inspire and motivate their coworkers.

Resilience is a quality that can be established, developed, and improved in any workforce, which is fortunate for leaders everywhere.

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Case Study: Determining, Conceptualizing and Measuring Organizational Resilience

The business climate of today is getting more complicated and unstable. The development of organizations appears to have become more prone to crises as a result of globalization and the internationalization of economic operations.

These ‘grey rhinos’ (big probability and high impact possible crises) or ‘black swans’ (low probability but high impact occurrences) include the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the 2011 tsunami in Japan, the 2008 financial crisis, the 9/11 attacks, and the 2008 global financial crisis.

The survival and growth of organizations are being put under increasing pressure by these occurrences.

As a result, decision-makers now need to focus on how businesses can manage risk and keep expanding even in times of crisis.

It becomes important to start asking questions such as: ‘Why can certain organizations more easily adapt to challenging external factors and endure during a crisis?’.

Organizational resilience is the most direct element underlying why businesses may successfully navigate crises, according to empirical and theoretical studies. This is due to the fact that highly resilient businesses have significant organizational resilience and can survive existential crises.

The case for resilient organizations adapting to market changes and having a higher likelihood of being relevant and responsive to market changes is amassing. Even the long-term success of businesses has been connected by some academics to resilience. For instance, Somers (2009) described organizational resilience as a company’s capacity to prepare for a disaster in advance. As a result, the study of organizational resilience is crucial for helping businesses really grow through crises as well as for developing new theoretical perspectives on crisis management.

The environment in which businesses function is becoming more unstable as the digital economy grows. Organizations’ primary objectives are to survive and expand in a dynamic environment. Therefore, both academics and practitioners are aware of the significance of organizational resilience.

Learning resilience and capital resilience are both components of organizational resilience. By strengthening organizational skills, learning helps organizations respond to crises more effectively. Additionally, organizational resources can boost resilience to the consequences of crises and decrease organizational susceptibility. Research studies have observed that organizations’ idle resources have a significant role in fostering flexibility and improving their capacity to handle crises.

Therefore, learning resilience and capital resilience, no matter the position that a person holds within an organization, are significant organizational resilience components.

It takes time to develop and then implement a long-term strategic design. Meticulous planning and effective procedures are required to build organizational resilience and accumulate corporate resilience assets.

To develop strategic resilience, we must first put a lean strategy into practice. A bold vision and mission are crucial for businesses to have. A company’s strategy and goals are heavily influenced by its vision and mission, and a shared vision helps the business flourish and pave the road for further development.

It is also crucial for businesses to establish precise development objectives and mold core competencies to fit them. An ambitious vision and corporate mission help guide employees to focus on long-term development, while clear development goals help motivate organizational members and promote efficient synergy and mutual support within the organization.

In order to build capital resilience, businesses must also employ excellent capital practices. For example, they must always ensure there is sufficient cash flow.

Because crises are unpredictable, businesses must be ready before they occur and must choose the proper financial reserves based on how working capital is used. Controlling the company’s capital leverage ratio is also essential. In the event of a crisis, companies with high capital leverage often find it difficult to cope with crises. They must have a strong financial strategy during the development process and maintain a manageable level of capital leverage.

When a crisis strikes, having a higher relational resilience helps businesses create strong bonds with their staff, clients, and investors, aiding in their recovery. You only have to look at the Wholefoods story where it’s customers were it’s biggest fans and helped save them in the face of a potentially catastrophic crisis to see the power of strong relationships.

Moreover, focusing on creating an environment where your employees understand that they are the central power force of your organization will create a community of likeminded, interested and connected people.

One of the company’s most valuable resources and the foundation of value development is its workforce. Therefore, cultivating the organizational loyalty of employees and retaining them helps the enterprise enhance the dedication and cohesion of employees.

Customers are another cornerstone of enterprise development, establishing a strong relationship between enterprises and customers can help enterprises overcome crises.

A resilient organizational culture is conducive to shaping a sense of community among organizational members, which can help organizations survive crises. At the same time, a relaxed organizational climate is more conducive to good organizational performance.

So, on the one hand, it’s important to focus on caring and happiness. Caring for employees is good for employees to experience the feeling of home, which will motivate them to work harder to help the company cope with crises. Happy experiences can make the organization members have passion and can enhance the efficiency of the organization members.

And, on the other hand, it is important to shape the commitment of organization members. Committed employees are conducive to the harmonious and stable development of the company.

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Exercise 6.11: What is in Our Control?

Break into 2 groups of 5 participants.

As a group, answer the following questions:

Looking at the below list of things, which areas do you think currently impact people’s lives the most:

Make a few notes about why you think people are impacted by these things.

What is the impact on people from these things?

What reaction and/or emotions do you think people experience and display as a result of being impacted by them?

Your words, behavior and mindset; Behavior of strangers; The environment; Media; The news; Celebrities; Weather; Social Media Following; Natural Disasters; Death; Past Decisions; Politics; Other’s mistakes; Career; Academic success; Other’s opinions (of you and other things); Your reputation; Time commitments; Politics; Behavior of others

In looking at the image below, you can see the areas that are out of our control and those that are somewhat within our control and those that are completely in our control.

Have a look at the list you made for question 1. Which areas are impacting people’s lives that are out of their control?

What impact does this have on their ability to be resilient in the face of change and/or challenges?

What is the impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization with this level of distraction occurring daily?

What can you do to reduce the impact of these things on your employees and increase their resilience to the everyday occurrence of these things?

What are three simple things you can do to educate your employees on the importance of awareness around things they can and can’t control?

What is one step you can take to implement the first of these simple things?

When will you take this step?

How will you hold yourself accountable for taking this step?

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Course Manual 12: Models of Resilience

Introduction

Life is not linear, and we don’t always get to spend every day with everything we experience being ideal. Even though we would all like for things to ‘just go our way’ challenges are unavoidable and must be faced by everyone.

According to resilience theory, how we respond to adversity rather than its actual characteristics is what matters most.

Resilience not only aids us in our ability to endure, bounce back from, and even flourish after adversity, but it also helps up to overcome hardship, bad luck, challenges and frustration.

Resilience is complex. Its significance as a construct can vary among individuals, businesses, cultures, and societies. People can exhibit greater resilience at various points in their lives while exhibiting less resilience at other times, and some elements of their life may exhibit greater resilience than others.

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Models of Resilience

There are three broad types of resilience that describe how resilience variables work to change the trajectory from risk exposure to negative outcome:

• compensatory;

• protective; and

• challenge.

Because the levels of resilience vary so greatly within every individual, and therefore within every organization in the world, there are a number of models of resilience that have been developed to try and provide a format for different organizations to follow to build their resilience capabilities.

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The ‘Principles Model of Resilience’

The principles model is built on six fundamental principles and is derived from common features that show up when comparing resilience across several disciplines:

Resilience is an outcome of a specific focus

A method, management system, strategy, or predictive measurement cannot be used to define resilience. It most definitely does not mean the same thing as business continuity or emergency management, despite the fact that both of these can be significant factors in resilience. Instead, resilience is a quality that can be shown after, and in reaction to, a significant change in circumstances.

Being resilient is a dynamic quality

Resilience cannot be measured or scored in a way that describes it as a constant quality. The resilience of an organization will fluctuate in response to external environment volatility and as organizational capabilities evolve over time. Resilience is dynamic; when the context shifts, it will either rise or fall.

Being resilient is not just one thing

Resilience emerges from the intricate interaction of numerous elements. The presence, significance, and relative contributions of each of these components to resilience will alter as circumstances change.

Resilience comes in many forms

There isn’t currently a single model that perfectly captures resilience; each one has its flaws, some more obvious than others. The more accurate models each describe different facets of resilience from different angles.

There is resilience in a variety of circumstances

From low resilience (vulnerable) to high resilience (resilient), resilience can occur in a variety of settings. This range of resilience can be seen among various organizations dealing with the same incident, inside one organization dealing with various sorts of events or over various time periods, or internally among various organizational functions.

As an organization focuses on and invests in enhancing its resilience, it should see an increasing maturity in its resilience capabilities, from a low end highly reactive state (such as a simple emergency response such as an evacuation), improving capabilities through proactive preparedness (for example having in place incident response and business continuity capabilities) eventually achieving a state where it is adaptive to conditions of high uncertainty.

Effective risk management is the foundation of resilience

Organizations rarely exhibit resilience by chance. Their strategy for fostering resilience will be built around a sound assessment, management, and communication of risk.

These guidelines lay the groundwork for the development and assessment of further conceptual resilience frameworks or models. Applying these principles immediately reveals where many existing resilience frameworks, especially those static frameworks that also assert the ability to deliver a measure of resilience, are wrong.

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The ‘Integrated Function Model’ of Resilience

Early theories of organizational resilience, especially those from the UK and the USA, relied on rebranding different business continuity management (BCM) strategies as resilience. A ‘resilience process’ or ‘resilience system’ was frequently given to us as a result of this.

There is a risk that such highly prescriptive approaches may not only fall short of what resilience is about, but that the prescriptive nature may even impair resilience, especially when faced with ‘black swan’ occurrences (totally unexpected, extreme consequence events).

Strongly prescriptive processes have repeatedly failed to adapt when the environment has abruptly changed, as was the case with the collapse of Enron (Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, 2002; Millon, 2003), the global financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic to name a few.

A number of integrated models have been put out as a result of this process/management system thinking’s progress, and some of them have been successfully incorporated into a variety of organizations.

Integrated models built on a strong risk management strategy may significantly boost organizational resilience. Risk management serves as the framework in these models that connects various organizational competencies including emergency, business continuity, security, and crisis management.

Risk management gives people a shared understanding of how uncertainty brought on by highly unpredictable settings can affect an organization’s objectives and gives them the tools to deal with that uncertainty.

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Attributional Resilience Model

Recent theories have attempted to explain resilience in terms of characteristics of highly resilient institutions. These models show which organizational characteristics can aid a company in overcoming hardship and uncertainty. As a result, these models can shed light on the kinds of changes that an organization should take into account as it works to increase its resilience.

According to the Attributional Resilience Model, the following are the main factors that promote resilience:

• Establishing commitment, trust, strong internal alignment, and a shared purpose are among the organizational ideals.

• Establishing a clear strategic direction based on a knowledge of risk, enabling people to carry out the strategic vision, and cultivating trust are all aspects of leadership.

The ‘values’ and ‘leadership’ traits, in turn, produce an organizational culture and competence that is conscious of, comprehends, and responsive to internal and external change.

This high level of change sensitivity or acuity (knowing the past, observing the present, and anticipating the future) enables the identification of indications in the run-up to significant change. When a disruptive event occurs, this in turn enables deeper integration of the organization’s many elements and through-chain interdependencies, improving their ability to work cooperatively towards a common set of goals.

Open, appropriate, and honest communication is essential to the smooth operation of these numerous components because it fosters awareness of how dangers to the organization are developing or changing.

This knowledge and communication help the business better understand new emerging disturbances and learn from past disruptions.

The organization needs to be agile in order to respond to and adapt to a dynamic environment, and this agility is created by how these many aspects interact with one another.

Such attributional models can be quite helpful in drawing attention to these ‘soft’ aspects of resilience that are frequently not well understood.

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The Composite Resilience Model

The lack of focus on the ‘harder’ factors that support resilience has been seen by some as a flaw of attributional theories.

A distinct perspective is offered by the composite resilience model, which takes into account the operation of both soft and hard elements, including processes, infrastructure, technology, resources, information, and knowledge.

The ability to operate in both routine and non-routine contexts is essential to the model’s operational duality and is largely dependent on strategy and policy. The function of emergent leadership in motivating the adaptation of each of the other organizational aspects to the changing non-routine environment, however, is one of the fundamental ways in which the composite model differs from previous models.

Using the composite resilience model, emerging leadership can improve knowledge of the unstable environment and any ensuing altered organizational characteristics. As a result, emerging leadership may respond more quickly to put this information into decisions and actions.

Thus, it gives guidance for using capabilities and coordinating the functioning of processes, resources, infrastructure, technology, information, and knowledge at times of significant uncertainty and ambiguity.

Additionally, it must be understood that emerging leadership frequently results from competent middle managers rising to the challenge rather than always coming from top management.

This highlights the role that strategy and policy play in creating the environment that fosters the emergence of such leadership once more.

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The ‘Herringbone Model of Resilience

Which of the three resilience models and three resilience philosophies do you think is most appropriate? That question can only be answered when you look at how each model relates to the maturity level and operating environment of a specific organization.

The herringbone model was created to incorporate the ideas of some of the attributional and composite models and fill in some of the gaps in an effort to offer more of a one-stop shop solution.

The ‘herringbone’ acknowledges that an organization has a wide range of skills and engages in a variety of activities (which are collectively referred to as what the organization ‘does’) that will help it become more resilient.

The organization also demonstrates a variety of traits (or how’ it behaves), which have an impact on the efficiency of its capabilities and activities and contribute to its resilience.

While the majority of these skills, traits, and activities are essential for thriving in a predictable environment, it is their capacity for adaptation to unpredictability that will build resilience.

Some skills and tasks, like business continuity and crisis and emergency management, are unique to operations in the non-routine setting.

However, some traits really shine when it comes to assisting in the development of a resilient state by enhancing the performance of all organizational components in a non-routine environment. These vitally significant elements include, among others:

• Acuity is the capacity to perceive precedent, or what has already happened.

• Situational awareness, or what is happening right now, and foresight.

• The capacity to anticipate what might occur in the future.

• Acuity so that one is able to use this information to spot signs of impending significant change early on and gain knowledge of potential solutions.

• The capacity to continue making decisions and acting in the face of substantial uncertainty is known as ambiguity tolerance.

• Utilizing original thinking to solve issues at a pace that matches volatility takes creativity and agility.

• People, systems, and infrastructure continue to function under escalating pressures and uncertainties thanks to stress coping.

• Learnability is the capacity of an organization to apply the lessons learned from its own and others’ experiences to better manage the current situation, including applying lessons as they are learned in the present.

The type of shifting conditions the organization is dealing with will determine the relative importance and contribution of each capability, activity, and attribute to resilience.

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The Resilience Triangle Model

Collectively, the models from before show how organizations can become more resilient when they adjust to big changes because of the complex interplay of organizational parts or skills. The current difficulty is to represent this complexity in a straightforward model design.

The classic fire triangle model, which states that heat, fuel, and oxygen all contribute to the formation of a fire, served as the basis for creating the Resilience Triangle Model.

As a result, if you remove any one of the triangle’s sides, resilience ‘goes out’.

• process capabilities

• resources and infrastructure capabilities, and

• leadership, people, and knowledge capabilities.

More precisely, the model aims to demonstrate the importance of all three categories of skills for organizational resilience:

• are suitable for their intended use.

• their design criteria are appropriate for the task at hand.

• monitoring of capability and volatility is necessary.

• maintain enough capacity to guarantee that the necessary organizational goals will be met.

• degree of redundancy in the capability’s design.

• have tenacity, which necessitates that the design of these capacities be either resistant or stress-tolerant, so that they can continue to function even in the face of severe disruptive consequences.

• Be flexible enough to deviate from the original design’s constraints in response to evolving conditions.

Therefore, any reduction in these qualities’ (individually or collectively) performance could worsen resilience.

The nature of the interplay between the capabilities and each unique context (changing internal and external environment) being faced determines the precise level of any degradation or enhancement.

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Resilience Strategies

There is a range of models mentioned above, all of which serve as an illustration of the variety of concepts regarding resilience, and the variety of options available to organizations to develop greater resilience within their people and processes .

However, it is important to keep in mind that none of these models truly describe resilience. Instead, they each outline a few organizational characteristics that can boost resilience.

Therefore, how these models can be used within an organization is completely subjective to the needs of each organization. To better determine which model, or indeed combination of models is right for an organization, it is necessary to understand and apply the four strategic pillars of resistance, reliability, redundancy and flexibility that can be used to begin constructing enhanced resilience models for the organization.

It should be acknowledged that, depending on the conditions, any one of these four strategic approaches may be able to support organizational resilience. It would be foolish to try to foresee what is going to happen and then be able to choose a single strategic method to manage those particular conditions in the modern context, which presents such high levels of uncertainty. Therefore, it would appear more logical for a company to choose a suite from among the four different types of strategies that will cover a wide variety of potential disruptions.

The performance of organizational capability (and its impact on resilience) should be influenced by each of the four types of strategies in a unique way.

In the absence of implementing any ‘resilience strategies’, it is not unreasonable to expect that organizational capability and performance would showcase a quick and catastrophic collapse shortly after a disruptive event began.

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Resistance Strategies

The intention of the resistance strategies are to increase the organization’s robustness and harden it to withstand any immediate effects that volatility may bring.

Such strategies typically lack flexibility or adaptation; instead, they aim to balance an organization’s strength against an event’s power.

Therefore, an efficient resistance strategy would be expected to retain capability and performance at levels that are similar to those of ordinary operating. However, because they are typically created to respond to predictable occurrences, specified within expected constraints, resistance techniques can have severe downsides.

Without other sorts of strategy, capability and performance would be anticipated to catastrophically collapse should the actual event exceed those limits.

Examples of resistance tactics include the deployment of firewalls against cyberattacks, guidelines for construction and land use in flood- and bushfire-prone zones and the like.

Additionally, a lot of organizational emergency response tactics can be seen as resistance tactics.

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Reliability Strategies

After an event, reliability techniques work to maintain the availability, usability, and suitability of critical functions, resources, data, and infrastructure.

Although capability and performance may deteriorate slightly, they are anticipated to be steady until recuperation is finished.

Reliability solutions are often only intended to function within expected parameters; if those parameters are surpassed, resilience can abruptly and tragically fail. The results of reliability strategies could be contracts with numerous suppliers, multimode systems, business continuity plans, and so on.

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Redundancy Strategies

Redundancy plans offer one or more substitutes for routine operational methods.

Prior to alternate arrangements starting to function and restoring performance to acceptable levels, the organization may experience some initial degradation of capacity and performance after implementing redundancy solutions.

Redundancy strategies take into account arrangements such backup systems, process workarounds, disaster recovery plans and the like.

Strategies such as these can be vulnerable in situations where their design parameters are surpassed because they are often created to handle predictable volatility.

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Flexibility Strategies

The organization can adjust to unusual circumstances and unexpected shocks with the help of flexibility strategies, which frequently go beyond the design constraints of the other strategies.

Most ‘soft’ elements are typically taken into account by flexibility tactics, especially those in the composite, attributional, herringbone, and triangular models. Such tactics give the organization the adaptive capability to react to a wide range of unpredictable circumstances, including black swan events, either directly or through their influence on resistance, reliability, and redundancy.

Examples of such tactics include preparing physically and mentally for harsh situations, practicing ‘decision making in a vacuum’, cultivating an environment that fosters emerging leadership, and fostering cultural elements like loyalty, trust, and shared purpose.

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Case Study: How University Education Survived a Pandemic

In November 2019, an illness was identified in Wuhan, China. By January 2020, Governments from all across the world started to pay attention to the disease’s possible global effects. In less than two months after this, country borders were closed, businesses were closing, public gatherings were being discouraged and sizeable business, social and student events were being cancelled.

The fear of the unknown spread globally, and life as most people knew it started to drastically change.

By March 11, 2020, everyday occurrences like school attendance and the learning process had been altered in ways that few could have imagined. Colleges and universities in higher education were closing their doors and starting to struggle with online learning.

Due to the lack of traditional resources, educators had to come up with creative, new approaches of teaching kids. Teaching faculty and students had to build resilience to complete the work at hand while living in fear of catching an illness that was poorly understood and largely feared.

The shutting of schools created a sense of anarchy. The widespread dread felt by the public was a new dimension for educators as they struggled to develop new policies to handle the demands of no longer being face-to-face in a classroom.

What had once appeared to be well-choreographed, suddenly appeared chaotic.

Universities and colleges all throughout the world started offering courses online in virtual environments and classrooms. Even though many instructors were unfamiliar with the technological components of the platforms and applications, they were compelled to employ technology in novel ways. They were obliged to learn while also teaching, which resulted in irritation and dissatisfaction.

Faculty everywhere got to figuring out what was required to meet the students’ educational needs while effectively completing the semester. Faculty and students could virtually interact with one another thanks to platforms like Zoom, FaceTime, WebEx, and others, and the online classroom started to become commonplace.

A group of university administrators were faced with a question that most college officials across the country were facing in March 2020, while most people were on Spring Break vacations. What shall we now do? How can we maintain the high standard of instruction for which we are renowned while still keeping both our faculty and students safe?

To try and help answer the question ‘What should come next?’, many Universities decided to prolong Spring Break by an extra week so that lecturers could decide what next steps to take. When classes recommended the following week, they were offered in an online setting. Educators and students alike were unfamiliar with the format, but they accepted it so that they could keep each other safe.

The task of figuring out the next best actions for the Universities as a whole was no simple feat. Universities, by their very nature, conduct lots of different research projects that require in person presence on an ongoing basis. It’s simply not possible to shut down every research project that is underway so a complex risk management/resilience approach was required to be developed to manage the risk of infection against the outcomes of research being conducted.

Crises rarely offer any notice, they simply present an organization with a set of new challenges that create a necessity for rapid change to be made. In almost all circumstances presented by crisis, the way an organization thinks, acts and behaves has to undergo a seismic shift so that the organization can survive and then move on to thriving once more.

COVID-19 presented considerable hurdles for individuals studying degrees that required distinct clinical requirements to be satisfied in order to graduate and achieve accreditation standards. It also presented challenges for individuals who were completing requirements for athletic scholarships.

Leaders on campus were constantly aware of the fluidity of the situation due to the size of the modifications and adaptations being forced by the spread of the virus.

Although the COVID-19 epidemic had a big impact on the overall population, university administration was committed to continuing with instructional practices that were in line with the pre-COVID traditional educational institution.

There were too many individual decisions to mention that were made to enable the Universities to continue offering education at a high standard.

What is worth noting is that there was no one individual who made all of the decisions and that it was the resilience of the group collectively that allowed the Universities to continue providing the services that they had promised to their students.

Within each University, it was the team as a whole worked together to make choices. The task of carrying out the policies fell then to people who had been given new responsibilities within their existing roles.

Necessary safeguards were quickly put in place and procedures were implemented that allowed each organization to keep up to date with the rapidly evolving information, as well as stay ahead of what was happening and make decisions quickly enough to move as things changed.

Critically, communication to staff and students alike became a key plank of the crisis management plan and served to keep everyone focused and moving in the same direction.

Did every University adopt the same process and procedures? No – of course not.

Each University analyzed the resilience levels of their unique organization and then created the plan that would best suit their needs moving forwards.

While the COVID-19 times were challenging, they created new products and services and new levels of flexibility for the way that education is delivered around the world.

Never before has education been so accessible, by so many with few barriers to entry and it was the resilience level of the people within the teaching organizations that have made it so.

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Exercise 6.12: The ‘Win-Win’ Solution

As a main group, write down a few words about a current challenge your organization is facing.

Break into 5 groups of 2 participants.

As individuals, answer the following questions:

What are your underlying concerns about the challenge?

What concerns you about trying to solve the problem?

What do you believe needs to happen to solve this challenge?

Bring your answers back to your group.

What concerns do you have in common – write them down.

What solutions do you have in common?

How can you combine your solutions to create a more robust solution to solve the challenge?

Take your robust solution back to the main group and work together to create a complete solution that takes into account the solutions from all of the groups. This might mean creating roles that each group plays in solving the problem, or it might be a complete solution that every group member carries out.

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Project Studies

Before the commencement of Workshop 7, the Head of each department is to provide a detailed report relating to the introduction of resilience within their department.

The report should include the following:

– Initial evaluation of the current status of resilience within the department.
– A SWOT analysis relating to the department’s current resilience status.
– Strategic process for implementing and maintaining resilience on an ongoing basis. The process is to include the following 12 elements:

o What is resilience
o History of resilience
o Resilient businesses
o Resilient people
o Cognitive resilience
o Physical resilience
o Emotional resilience
o Psychological resilience
o Social resilience
o Concepts of resilience
o Resilience scales
o Models of resilience

– Detail any challenges experienced whilst implementing the process.
– Confirmation that the process has been successfully implemented and is now fully operational.

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Program Benefits