Organisational resilience, innovation & transformation

Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher, said, “Change is the only constant in life.” 

Change can be planned or unplanned, incremental or radical.  Planned, incremental change is always preferred.  Globalisation, rapid developments in information and technology, and the damaging effects of climate change are making disruptive, unplanned, radical change events more and more frequent.

We had bushfires burning all across our country over summer, followed by the largest-scale pandemic our world has ever seen.  Along with the health impacts, there has been a considerable economic impact with the closure of entire industries and a dramatic increase in unemployment.  And we still can’t be sure what is next.  It is entirely possible, even probable, that the COVID-19 event will continue as we move into another bushfire season.

‘Organisational resilience, innovation & transformation’ is a term that I came up with that brings together everything that is needed for an organisation to reduce vulnerability before and during a crisis, and also to have the necessary adaptive capacity to bounce forward from disruptive events.  Being positively geared, it also allows organisations to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves before, during and after crises.

By taking a ‘whole system’ view of council’s strategy and planning, strategic risk management, operational risk management, business continuity management, emergency management, organisational development, financial management, asset management, environmental management, and change management, councils can be well prepared to deliver sustained value to their communities during ‘normal’ times, but also adapt quickly to threats and disruptions.

Our traditional rigid systems and structures provide us with stability, safety, and security.  But in these modern times of high vulnerability, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA), we also need to be very agile.  This capacity to adapt to adversity is essential.  And we can have the best of both worlds; the stability of our traditional systems and structures, that are complemented by agile, collaborative, cross-functional ways of working.  This will mean changes in our technology, review of PD’s, EA’s, and reporting structures.  Increased adaptive capacity is essential to our future as it allows us to embrace opportunities and appropriately respond to threats.

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