Page 104 - The Resilient Organization

Why Leadership Matters, but It Is Not Sufficient 91

The truly unforeseeable, rare events also plague us. Such black swans
may have catastrophic consequences. One such event would be a large
asteroid hitting the earth, which might end life on earth upon collision.
Another example would be a financial meltdown of the scale just experi-
enced, with lots of risks hiding under the surface that were not detected, or
acted upon, in time by the public that was to pay for the eventual conse-
quences in tax dollars. And the accumulated effects of past decisions that
suddenly create large-scale systemic change: we can no longer expect the
past risk ratios to hold.
The burden of leadership is such that it is wise to bet on resilience, not
on leadership alone. Build resilience into the organization. It is necessary
because of the likelihood that leadership actions will be delayed, wrong,
inadequate, or just missing. (Perhaps the wrong person was indeed in
charge!) Building resilience into the organization improves the company’s
chances to survive the moments of weak leadership and to get through
(eventually inevitable) strategy shifts. Resilience is what organizations can
fall on, when leadership fails.

ORGANIZATIONAL IDEATIVENESS
Idea exploration is an important strategy for the future. Ideation
allows us, with very little cost, to explore different development paths
and scenarios. Ideation invites playfulness—going beyond the bound-
aries of everyday expectations. Resilience thus raises the question:
how ideative is your company? How many idea people do you have
thinking for you? Ideativeness has little to do with brainstorming ses-
sions. Rather, it is about the capacity to think of the future in differ-
ent and sometimes radical ways. Whether these ways are good or bad,
desirable or not, matters little. Thinking about them and talking
about them builds resilience. As a leader, you will then not be coldly
surprised. Remember the old strategist’s truth: it is not the plan; it is
the planning that makes you prepared. (Or, “No plan survives contact
with the enemy.”)