Bouncing forward, not back: discovering and developing resilience skills for ourselves and the workplace

Transcription

1 Bouncing forward, not back: discovering and developing resilience skills for ourselves and the workplace

2 What is resilience, anyhow? Three definitions, from three fields

3 An engineer s view

4 A psychologist s view

5 An ecologist s view

6 The connections A visual metaphor: absorption of outside stressors without collapse Traits of resilient individuals Qualities of resilient systems

7 Resilience for individuals Resilience is the process by which we successfully adapt to difficult or challenging life experiences It is something we do (an active state) rather than something we have (a passive state) It is something that we can learn and develop throughout life, and, to a degree, it is wired into us It is not something that occurs in isolation

8 If everyone is so resilient, then why are we all so anxious? Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/10/2013

9 Characteristics of resilient people Optimistic and realistic; forward thinkers Problem solvers Connected Able to adapt; ability to influence outcomes

10 Can you make your own luck? Locus of control, as defined by psychologist Julian Rotter: Briefly, internal versus external control refers to the degree to which persons expect that a reinforcement or an outcome of their behavior is contingent on their own behavior or personal characteristics versus the degree to which persons expect that the reinforcement or outcome is a function of chance, luck, or fate, is under the control of powerful others, or is simply unpredictable (Rotter 1990). External locus of control = luck, fate, or outside forces are likely to determine the outcome of a situation Internal locus of control = individual can initiate an action to influence the outcome of a situation

11 Becoming more resilient people Strategies to develop resiliency

12 Health and well being (do the things that work for you!) Be physically active Practice mindfulness Eat well Get enough sleep Maintain your social ties Reflection: what is one thing you will commit to doing to improve or maintain your health and well being?

13 Problem solving skills Use your creativity Use your analytical ability Use your practical knowledge Reflection: Which is your area of strength in problem solving? Which area would you like to develop?

14 Build your inner strength: Self-esteem Reflection: what are three things you like about yourself? Self-confidence Reflection: Replace your negative self talk with a supportive statement. Self-concept (who are you?) Reflection: Write down five attributes or characteristics that best describe yourself.

15 Develop high level resiliency skills! Make the glass half full Practice gratitude Walk a mile in someone else s shoes Choose how you will react Reflection: Which of these skills would you most like to strengthen for yourself?

16 Talent for serendipity Look for the silver lining What can be learned in a difficult situation? Reflection: Think about challenges you ve experienced in some facet of your life. What did (or could) you learn?

17 Thinking systematically Multiple ecological, social, economic, and other systems intersect in our lives Systems, like individuals have the ability to absorb disturbance and still retain basic function and structure (From Resilience Thinking Brian Walker and David Salt. Island Press: 2006)

18 Characteristics of resilient organizations Awareness Diversity Integration Self-regulation Adaptive

19 Building resilience at the organizational level Workplace is an ecosocial system Efficiency is a fine line Build trust and develop leadership skills Open to change

20 Resilience thinking is about understanding and embracing change, as opposed to striving for constancy. From Resilience Thinking Brian Walker and David Salt. Island Press: 2006

21 How resilient is your organization? And how will you find out?

22 Zimmerman Library fire April 30, 2006

23 Road to recovery

24 Creative output

25 Never let a good crisis go to waste. - attributed to Winston Churchill

26 Selected bibliography Books: Rodin, J The Resilience dividend. New York: PublicAffairs. Siebert, A The Resiliency advantage. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler. Walker, B. and D. Salt Resilience thinking. Washington, D.C.: Island Press. Articles: Blum, D Finding strength: how to overcome anything. Psychology Today 31(3): 32-. McMurtrie, B Bouncing back may be tough, but so are we. Chronicle of Higher Education 59(35): B13-B15. Oaklander, M Bounce back. Time 185(20): Siebert, A Develop resiliency skills. T+D 60(9):88-89.

27 Questions and comments?