There have been a number of articles recently about the discovery of a brain chemical, BDNF, in mice that may impact the ability to deal with stress and their resiliency. The discovery, if proven in humans, could begin to explain why some people bounce back from setbacks and others do not. It can be physiological and largely out of the control of the person. The good news is that it possibly could be treated. Fortunately, the situation is not the case for large organizations, and especially corporations. Corporations can choose to be resilient and to what extent they will be resilient. A corporation can plan for resilience, it can staff with the right types of people, it can put in place processes necessary for resiliency, and it can monitor and adjust. Resiliency is a choice. It is an empowering choice that corporate boards and leadership should make. And best of all, it is a choice the corporation owns. Corporations can also choose to be secure, protected, prepared, and to manage their risks. But in each of these areas, the ultimate success of that choice depends on the someone else's actions. The corporation will attempt to be secure/protected/prepared against those eventualities it anticipates and for how it anticipates they will occur. But a change by those intending to do harm or interference with control mechanisms, could easily mean the company is suddenly not secure/protected/prepared. Instead of being empowered, the company is beholden to or at the mercy of someone else. To a large extent, this is not the case in a resiliency paradigm. Resiliency should not be focused on a large collection of point threats and vulnerabilities. Rather, it should be based on the existence of processes and capabilities that ensure the corporation is able to survive and thrive, regardless of the disruption. The existence and performance of these processes and capabilities are the things that should keep corporate executives awake at night...not whether they are prepared for a specific vulnerability or threat. They should make the choice to be resilient. Darryl Moody
Resilient Corporation
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