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228 Conclusion

2. How would you like to show personal resilience?
3. Where have you observed or read about the most admirable resilience
you’d like your organization to manifest?

In assessing the resilience of your organization, you may wish to consider
the instances of resilience your organization has shown: How many oppor-
tunities are being pursued that have stemmed from an unanticipated mar-
ket change? How strategic is the pursuit—that is, to what extent do these
instances have the capability to renew and refresh corporate mission and
strategy? Do they build reservoirs for change for the future? How many
market changes have been missed that now pose a potential competitive
threat in the past three to five years?

RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT

1. How many market changes have been identified and pursued dur-
ing your tenure in the company?
2. What is the capacity of these pursuits to refresh corporate strategy
and mission?
3. What kinds of reservoirs for change does the organization have for
the future?

A CULTURE OF RESILIENCE

When you run to catch a cab, your heart rate accelerates—automatically.
When you stand up in front of an audience to speak, your adrenal
glands start pumping—spontaneously. When you catch sight of
someone alluring, your pupils dilate—reflexively. Automatic, sponta-
neous, reflexive. These words describe the way your body’s autonomic
systems respond to changes in your circumstances. They do not
describe the way large organizations respond to changes in their
circumstances. Resilience will become something like an autonomic
process only when companies dedicate as much energy to laying the
groundwork for perpetual renewal as they have to building the
foundations for operational efficiency.
—Gary Hamel and Liisa Välikangas (2003)