Of late, I’ve seen a lot of advice to people about how to be more resilient, a better worker, and the like. I’ve seen pushback as well, where folks ask why they should push more and why doesn’t work ask less. I agree, in part; this “quiet quitting” makes sense when you think the org isn’t working with you. I think both parties have a role to play. In particular, on the org side, it’s the overall ecosystem you put into play, not the individual parts. Or, in other words, it’s the systems, silly!
There’s lots of work on the individual side. For instance, April Rinne’s recent book, Flux, provides 8 ways to rethink how you frame the world, with useful outcomes. This is only one in many titles that are emerging to help people cope with the outcomes of a pandemic and an increasingly chaotic world. That’s useful, to be sure. However, there’s another side.
I got started on this by an insightful article written by Stephanie Moore (UNM), Reclaiming Resilience: Building Better Systems of Care, that points to the necessity of looking from a systemic perspective. That is, resilience in particular stems from a network capable of accepting shocks and adapting. She cites Geary Rummler and Alan Brache: “If you pit a good performer against a bad system, the system will win almost every time.” That’s the point; you need a good system as well as good individuals.
Similarly, many years ago, I co-wrote a chapter with Eileen Clegg, who’s husband studied extremophiles. From that work, we found inferences from how organisms adapt to extreme circumstances to how organizations could cope. Many of these were systemic changes, such as investing in stronger bonds and accepting outside influences in safe ways. They also ended up being about ways to more humanely deal with people.
The learning, to me, is that when we look to systems that incorporate people in natural ways, we don’t just survive, we thrive. That includes facilitating effective information flow via communication and collaboration, providing flexibility and safety while still requiring accountability, valuing diversity, and continual experimentation. There’s more in her article and elsewhere, but for me the takeaway is to make more humane organizations. Or, to put it another way, it’s the systems, silly!
HPT Treasures - for Evidence Based Performance Improvement 