Five Signs of a Resilient Organization

In the work we do, we’ve been so privileged to work with so many mission-driven teams whose vision is to work towards building a better world, especially for vulnerable and marginalized populations. Those organizations are also the ones struggling the most with cuts in federal funding, unpredictable changes to regulations, and an uncertain future for their organization. 

In our personal, professional, and community lives, we’ve seen the toll this instability takes. Many of us are trying to find calm amidst the chaos, and a viable path forward in times that feel increasingly frustrating and difficult.  To center ourselves and move through these times, we often return to the writing of adrienne maree brown, who reminds us, “We can struggle with each other, but we must be mindful not to get caught in patterns of struggle...We must build an internal sense of movement and justice that fortifies our resilience and strength.” 

Drawing from her frameworks in Loving Corrections and the years we’ve worked alongside teams navigating uncertainty, we’ve noticed five signs of organizational resilience that strengthen a team’s ability to adapt, transition, and grow in times of turmoil.

1. Collective accountability for what happens in shared spaces

Resilient organizations understand that culture is co-created and co-owned. When things go wrong, they resist the instinct to individualize blame and create an us versus them narrative. Collective accountability builds trust and keeps responsibility distributed, creating conditions where everyone feels both ownership and support. What this could look like is: team members having individual accountability for their feelings, needs, and actions and for those in leadership positions to create the conditions that provide psychological safety. 

2. Willingness to engage in honest communication

In times of challenge and crisis, there needs to be a culture of open communication. Sometimes, this means we need to slow down to ensure everyone gets a chance to think, process, and speak, before moving onto the next point. We’ve seen resilient teams lean into difficult conversations with care and curiosity, not defensiveness.  They listen to witness and learn, not to respond or repudiate. When teams are willing to engage in honest communication, it leaves less room for misinformation or rumors to fill in the gaps of information.  

3. Frameworks and language around navigating disagreements and conflict resolution

Example of a framework we have introduced to help teams move from rupture to repair

It may not be enough to just have honest communication. There needs to be a pathway towards navigating disagreements and conflict. Conflict is inevitable, but harm is not. Resilient organizations recognize that having a shared framework or even just common language to navigate disagreements would be a powerful way to signal to the team that it is acceptable to have disagreements and conflict and that there is trust that team members can work through. This may look like a restorative justice practice, norms on how to pause and surface conflict, or a structured facilitated discussion. This could look different for many organizations but what is most important is putting in place a practice, process, or structure to signal that there is a pathway towards repair. 

4. Intentionally connecting and building relationships

Organizational resiliency is built on the trust, expertise, and relationships on your team. In order to build trust and relationships, we have seen teams engage in shared rituals like check-ins, informal connection moments, and genuine interest in each other’s lives and well-being. These are the teams that are able to see the best in each other when there are moments of high stress and conflict and can move towards collaboration and repair. 

5. Allowing people to show up differently than they have in the past

Resilient organizations make space and room for people to change. There may be a team member or two who you’ve had issues with in the past and you’re not too eager to trust them just yet. Adrienne maree brown writes, “Be in a practice of curiosity as often as possible when entering into and developing relationships with others. Let yourself be surprised by the person in front of you, rather than constantly comparing them to limited colonial ideas of what their race, ethnicity, gender, class, ability, or other constructed stereotype is cast to be like.” To build towards resiliency, team members need to move towards a level of trust that is necessary to get through challenges together. It doesn’t have to be the highest level of trust that you would only bestow your closest friends and family, but it has to be a level of trust where you know your team is working towards a common goal and objective with everyone’s best interest at heart. 

Each of these five practices is, at its core, a way of remembering that resilience is collective work. It’s not built through individual effort, but through how we hold each other, listen deeply, and choose collaboration and connectivity over division and rupture. 

Resilient organizations can be microcosms of the world that we’re trying to build. A world that centers community, justice, accountability, and care. If you’re interested in fortifying your organizational resilience, we invite you to learn more about our offering here.