By Navin Tauro and Ronald Soans

Since the early 2000s, the Agile methodology has dominated discussions around collaborative software delivery. As we transitioned into the Modern Agile movement in 2016, it simplified the core principles into four pillars: Make People Awesome, Make Safety a Prerequisite, Experiment and Learn Rapidly, and Deliver Value Continuously. However, the landscape shifted dramatically with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting a deeper exploration into organisational resilience beyond the realms of Agile.

Agile to fragile

The business ecosystem’s heightened Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA) underscored the importance of Agile methodologies. Organisations needed to adapt rapidly to survive, and traditional hierarchical structures proved inadequate in addressing rapidly changing circumstances.

Entrez organisational resilience

PwC India’s Crisis and Resilience Survey 2023, terms Enterprise Resilience, emphasising the continuous evolution of businesses to protect themselves from unprecedented events, adapt to changing environments, create value, and maintain a competitive edge. The survey points out that 13,000 companies in India shuttered operations in FY21, emphasizing the need for resilience amid crises. Nonetheless, some Indian companies discovered their inner mojo, especially in the IT sector.

Let’s observe from nature – What separates the resilient from the has-beens?

The Hermit Crab

Drawing parallels from nature, like the hermit crab’s life journey, as it crawls along the bottom of the ocean – tossed to and fro by the waves, scratched and cut by the moving sands and rocks, hunted by predators who desire to eat it including humans, leading a life filled with trials and hardships. But as the hermit crab presses through the hardships it becomes stronger, facing numerous challenges in the ocean, adapts and becomes stronger, developing a hard armour for protection.

Scientists are not sure why, but there’s a group of hermit crabs that have given up on persevering through the hardships. They find an empty shell, or object of any kind, and settle in. They attach themselves by their backs and stick on the inside of the shell. However, their backs become as thin as paper and their legs remain thin and fragile. Eventually, their legs actually fall off and they die within the shell they thought would protect them, but this apparent safety leads to their demise. This highlights important lessons for individuals and organisations amidst the VUCA swirls of the world.

Integrated Approach

In a dramatic parallel, organisations too are contending with an environment in ‘permacrisis’ – constant movement, continuous disruption, states the PwC Survey. In 2023, 98% of organisations in India said they had experienced disruption in the past two years. The types of disruptions expected in the next two: operational – 59%, humanitarian – 56%, human capital – 53%, technological – 41%, financial – 26%, legal – 37%.

As it emerges, the survey finds business leaders need to build ‘resilient organisations by design’ with three key components:

INTEGRATION: Risks are interconnected, and therefore so should the approach. Integrated resilience approach includes the following competencies: cyber recovery, financial liquidity, crisis management, business continuity management, emergency management, disaster recovery.

LEADERSHIP: Everything rises and falls on leadership. 92.5% of organisations have established a C-suite sponsor. 38% of organisational resilience programs are sponsored by CEOs. 52% of respondents cite upskilling future leaders as one of the top three important elements of future-proofing.

OPERATION: 80% of respondents cited their most serious crisis had a medium-to-high impact on operations, disrupting critical business processes and services. Leveraging tech enables a panoramic view of the risk and resilience landscape. 67% of Indian business leaders understand tech is needed to mine actionable intelligence from vast data.

Not Without People

Surprisingly though, emphasis on the softer aspects of resilience seems to go begging in the advised ‘integrated approach’ to resilience. PwC’s Global Crisis and Resilience Survey 2023 mentions “… more and more organisations have embedded well-being programmes into their culture over the past few years, recognising the need to support employees and encourage balance and wellness in all parts of their lives. And resilient leaders grow resilient organisations…”

A Gallup Study found that two-thirds of full-time workers experience burnout on the job. The Deloitte Report in 2021 found 82% of senior leaders reporting exhaustion. A full 50% of senior leaders also contemplated exiting their roles, resigning, retiring, taking a leave of absence, or moving to part-time work.

People, Our Greatest Asset?

What is the business case for happy people?

Studies, such as the Gallup Study and KPMG’s White Paper, emphasize the business case for happy employees. Engaged employees contribute to higher earnings-per-share growth, better customer engagement, increased productivity, higher retention, fewer accidents, and improved profitability. Happy employees make for happy customers, and want our organisation’s and people to learn, prepare and operate resilient as the hermit crab, because ‘tough times never last, but tough people do’.

(The author: Navin Tauro is a Global leadership expert – Sr. Trainer Consultant, BYLD Group and Ronald Soans, Principal Advisor Services Industries (NBFC, IT & ITES), BYLD Group. Views expressed are their own and not necessarily that of financialexpress.com.)