Humans have mastered the art of bouncing back; so can organizations

Organizations, including corporations, can show resilience as well. Like people, they can adapt to a changing environment, overcome setbacks, and take adversity in stride.

Take Target for example, where they had a major security breach back in 2013, which involved 40 million credit (and debit) card records getting exposed. Fast-forward to last year, their digital channel sales outpaced the industry averages, with annual growth of nearly 30% over the last two years.

The same is true of systems; say for instance a computer network or complex software like an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, the type of solutions that control business-critical processes within large corporations.

Whether we are examining individuals, organizations, or systems, the traits that determine resilience share some similarities. In people, resilience depends on the ability to compartmentalize challenges and setbacks, so that when they inevitably occur in one area of life, they have the support, confidence, and strength in other areas to push through and overcome them.

Resilient people tend to be self-aware, confident in their strengths and abilities, exhibit strong internal values, and have a support network of friends and family.

Organizations and systems similarly need self-awareness, introspection, and redundant networks that allow them to compartmentalize failures, so they can localize and overcome them.