4 “What” Questions that Improve Resilience

Quick.  Can you name a resilient organization?

How about the local cleaner that trims its hours because nobody has answered their want ad?  No.

How about the plumber that loses its approved vendor status because their jobs run late due to a rickety work truck in constant disrepair? Nope.

How about the company that shuts down after the founder dies?  Uh, absolutely not.

Resilient organizations see and do what it takes to survive and thrive beyond any disruption.

The US Military comes to mind.  They probably invented the word redundant systems.  And as a result, they’re highly resilient as an organization.

While I have and will continue to share resilience tips and techniques here, I want to focus on what is arguably the bedrock of organizational resilience … the Team, employees, peeps, agents, workers, provocateurs, or whatever you want to call the people who support the host organization.

Most us at one time or another show up to work for “the man”.  And in so doing, we all likely had a subconscious and recurring script of questions when showing up for work.

The 4 “What” questions that dance in our noodle:

1. What is this organization’s purpose? I.e. what’s  the Objective?
2. What are we going to do to get there?  I.e. what’s the Plan?
3. What am I going to do to help?  I.e. what’s my Function?
4. What do I get out of it?  I.e. what’s my Reward?

There are a lot of systems that need to be addressed in order for an organization to be resilient: supply chain, network, equipment, etc.  A long and distinguished list for sure … yet none are as important as the people behind the systems that ensure that the mission is accomplished.

If you’re the boss … make sure those 4 questions get answered early and often.

If you’re the peep, er, Team member … ask those 4 questions until you get an answer.

And if you’re any or all of the above and need some help making sure the answers have some weight to them, reach out to me and I’ll do my best to help.