We typically think of resilience as finding our way through a difficult experience or time, recovering, and being able to move past the experience. We may carry some “scars” with us from the experience, but we assume that returning to where we were before is success. Yet, settling for the ability to endure and survive leaves us where we started with little benefit to show from the experience.
As unpleasant as uncertainty, challenges, and change can be, they do not have to break us or even leave us where we were before they emerged. Adversity can be an important opportunity and stimulus for growth and learning. We might look to nature to understand the benefits of approaching challenges with an adaptive mindset. We know that when we stress our muscles in strength training, we become stronger. Trees exposed to persistent, vigorous wind develop stronger, deeper root structures. The stress of forest and grass fires stimulate new plant growth. When predators are introduced to ecosystems, other animals develop greater awareness, avoidance, defense, and escape skills.
Author Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, describes three general response options to stress, challenge, and uncertainty:
- Fragile: Unprepared, unaware, inflexible systems and people are likely to break under stress. Rather than endure, they give in to the pressure and abandon the struggle. Adversity leaves them weaker, less able to deal with stress, and with diminished ability to confront the next challenge.
- Resilient: Strong, durable systems and people focus on managing, enduring, and surviving. Their goal is to “live to fight another day,” but not necessarily adjust or improve because of the experience. Adversity generally leaves them where they started: standing, but not stronger or wiser.
- Antifragile: Flexible, adaptive, responsive systems and people view uncertainty, adversity, and pressure as opportunities to learn, adapt, innovate, and grow. Returning to normal following challenging times is not their goal. Becoming stronger, becoming better able to adapt and adjust, and building toward new levels of skill and success are their intended “takeaways” from these experiences.
When conditions change, new elements are introduced to our world, or new challenges emerge, we can choose to give in and abandon the struggle, endure and survive, or adapt, learn, and grow. The course we choose can have lasting effects on our personal and professional lives.
Certainly, there are times when choosing to fight is futile, or committing to hang on is the best we can do. However, the greatest upside potential lies in leveraging difficult experiences to learn, grow, adjust, and thrive. The question is: How can we make the best use of challenging experiences and emerge wiser, stronger, and ready for what lies ahead? Consider these seven strategies as places to start:
- Interrogate adversity to find lessons you can learn. The lessons you learn may not only be useful now, but they may be good preparation for the future.
- Consider the challenge as an opportunity to innovate. Now can be a time to try something new.
- Explore what beliefs or assumptions may be getting in your way or holding you back. Try flipping your perceptions about the situation and see what new insights emerge.
- Examine the strategies and approaches that appear to be working for others. They may have discovered something that will be useful to you.
- Revisit something you tried that did not work. Often the “seeds of success” can be found in efforts and attempts that did not fully produce desired results.
- Accept that you hold the power to choose how you will respond regardless of what you face. Embrace the power you have.
- Ask yourself, “What would I do if I were not afraid?” Fear can keep us from considering options and solutions that may involve risk but also hold significant promise.
Adversity is a natural part of life. We will face it regardless of whether we choose or deserve it. The question for us is how we will respond. We can give in, tolerate, or leverage these experiences. The choice we make can make a significant difference to our confidence, sense of control, and ability to deal with what the future holds.
Resource: Taleb, N. (2012). Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder. Random House.
