4 ways to build resilience, according to CEOs who succeeded despite COVID-19
The CEOs of Siemens and Carbon share their best practices for building resilience in any team or organization
Source | www.fastcompany.com | LYDIA DISHMAN
After a year like 2020, it’s no wonder people prize resilience. The trait has helped many organizations weather the triple punches of health, economic, and cultural crises. But how does an organization develop and encourage resilience—not just among its workforce but throughout all of its processes?
Speaking at a workshop during Fast Company‘s Most Innovative Companies Summit today, Siemens president and CEO Barbara Humpton, who leads a workforce of 40,000 and is at the helm of a concentrated effort to create safer indoor spaces, was joined by Carbon’s president and CEO, Ellen Kullman. Carbon rapidly pivoted last year to develop the Resolution Medical Lattice Swab for COVID-19 testing.
The leaders offered their observations on the concept of “antifragility,” a term that was introduced by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book Antifragile. It’s defined as “a property of systems in which they increase in capability to thrive as a result of stressors, shocks, volatility, noise, mistakes, faults, attacks, or failures.” Both Kullman and Humpton used that as a starting point to detail their own best practices for weathering any storm.
TAKE A LOOK AT WHERE YOU’VE BEEN
Kullman and Humpton began by culling from their previous work experience various times that tested their mettle. Both were quick to mention that having children played a huge part in their ability to roll with disruption. But from a professional perspective, Kullman, an engineer and a veteran of DuPont, recalled the devastating impact that Hurricane Katrina had on one of its plants in Mississippi and how everyone immediately pulled together to help first responders help other citizens in peril in the aftermath.
