This framework provides a powerful approach for developing and sustaining high levels of resilience in individuals and organizations operating in highly dynamic environments.
Given the pace of change in today's world, resilience has become essential for success. The framework categorizes resilience into four dimensions:
The framework highlights that resilience depends on a combination of individual, social, structural, and technical capabilities. Developing resilience across all four types enables organizations to successfully navigate exponential change, build adaptability, and drive continuous progress. This impacts the Three Universal Outcomes of Enterprise Agility (Always-ready, Always-responsive, and Always-innovative). The model is based on research from psychology, neuroscience, and organizational studies on the factors contributing to higher resilience in individuals and systems.
We've found that beginning with Individual Resilience at the individual level provides a strong foundation. Change often creates discomfort or stress for people, so equipping employees with coping strategies and self-care skills is crucial. We like to coach leaders on practices such as mindfulness, reframing challenges through a solutions-oriented lens, and connecting work to a higher purpose. When people feel anchored in their values and able to adapt psychologically, they become highly engaged change agents.
Once Individual Resilience is being cultivated, the next step is nurturing Interpersonal Resilience by forging bonds of trust, empathy and mutual support across the organization. Going through change can feel lonely at times, so creating spaces for vulnerability and sharing ideas is pivotal. I frequently facilitate collaborative workshops to help teams build social connections and work through conflicts in a productive manner. These interactions strengthen a web of care that sustains people whenturbulence arises. Social Resilience revolves around nurturing a mindset across the company that embraces uncertainty and values collective learning.
We use experiential simulations to help people become more comfortable with complexity in a safe environment. As employees gain confidence in navigating ambiguity, creative collaboration and a daptation naturally follow. Leadership modeling also cements this mindset over time.
Structural Resilience involves assessing organizational systems, processes and policies for flexibility so the company can pivot rapidly. We guide leadership teams through identifying areas where rigidity has crept in over time. We reimagine how freed-up resources could better support innovation and continue updating metrics to incentivize agility. Even small tweaks like allowing employees to fluidly shift roleslaterally based on project needs rather than formal promotions can have a big structuralimpact.
Technical resilience is an organization's ability to leverage technology in a way that enhances overall resilience and adaptability. The pace of change today requires that companies view technology as a strategic asset for building resilience, not just a utility for day-to-day operations. Technical resilience is about implementing tools, platforms, and systems designed specifically to help organizations sense threats or opportunities early, understand complex interconnections, and mobilize responses rapidly. With deliberate focus across these four interconnected areas, organizations can build the resilience required to flourish amid exponential change. It starts with people, connects through relationships, optimizes systems and solidifies culture. This generates the sensing capabilities, collective wisdom and decisive action needed to continuously adapt and progress.