Resilience, or the ability to adapt well, is necessary in all aspects of life – including business. As exciting and joyful as business can be, it is often accompanied by various challenges. Even the most successful, cutting-edge entrepreneurs are unable to control all outcomes, and often a company’s success or failure is directly correlated to its level of resilience.
Lego: A Case Study
Consider The Lego Group. When Ole Kirk Kristiansen founded Lego in 1932, his company sold wooden toys. Being an innovator and someone who looks toward the future, Kristiansen witnessed the plastic industry emerging around the time of World War II, which sparked the idea of creating plastic bricks. As with any new idea, some considered this plan “ill-conceived.” Nevertheless, he proceeded and bought his first plastic molding machine.
Lego continued to make wooden toys and plastic bricks until 1960, when a fire destroyed the company’s wooden toy warehouse. With a new leader at the helm, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, Lego once again looked to the future. As the Global Skills X-Change blog post puts it, “[Lego] realized that the original wooden toys were a thing of the past and chose to interpret this as an opportunity to stop producing them.” While this proved to be a wise choice, Lego’s story was far from over. There have been more dips and dives throughout its history, including going from an $800 million debt in 2003 to a net profit of roughly $1.85 billion in 2021.
Throughout this fascinating story, it becomes clear that the one constant which kept Lego going and ultimately succeeding was the foundation of resilience on which it was built.
Four Truths About Resilience
If you are in business, resilience is more than a helpful quality. It is a requirement. Here are my top four tips on how to foster your own resilience, thereby preparing you for success, even when things don’t go your way.
- Resilience is something you choose
Resilience is not something you either have or don’t have. You don’t wake up one morning and all of a sudden it’s there. Resilience is something you choose. When you know where you are heading, when you have clarity on what you are creating for you, for your business, for others and for the world, resilience will be a byproduct.
If you lack clarity, ask for it: “If I could create anything I desire as my life, business and living, what would that be?” When you ask questions, clarity shows up. Now choose.
- Resilience looks for possibilities
Years ago, a friend and I wanted to go to Mardi Gras in Sydney, but we had no money. Rather than deciding that we were too young and too broke to do what we wanted, we looked for possibilities. Interestingly, when you ask, “What else is possible here?” or, “What would it take to ______?” new ideas emerge and that is exactly what occurred for us. Creative ideas abounded.
Since glitter happened to be very popular as a fashion statement at that time, we landed on the idea of creating glitter jars. We went to Sydney, filled big baskets with these jars and walked around Oxford Street (a popular spot for nightlife) carrying a sign that said, “Glitter for $5. Hugs for Free.” Not only did we get to go where we wanted, we had fun receiving hugs and selling glitter, and we walked away with enough money to cover all our expenses. This is exactly what resilience looks like. Resilience never says, “I can’t.” Resilience asks, “What would it take?”
- Resilience does not judge
There are no guarantees in business. You can’t always depend on a particular result. Sometimes you will stumble, or even fall. Money can be lost. There will be times where things don’t go the way you plan, or the way you think they should.
In these moments, it is important for you to not judge yourself. Ask, “What is right about me that I am not getting?” And, “What is right about this situation that I am not getting?” These questions disrupt the autopilot of judgement.
- Resilience does not require validation from others
It can be easy for business leaders to fall into the trap of looking to others as a reference when making decisions. While there is nothing wrong with receiving information and ideas from others, if you only look at how others are running their businesses when making choices for yours, you will miss out on what you bring to the table. You will leave out your unique awareness.
As you follow your own awareness, there will likely be times where others judge you. Resilience is the ability to not be at the mercy of those judgements. Some of the projections and expectations will be verbalised to you. Others will be delivered passively aggressively, often unspoken. Either way, judgement may sting, but it doesn’t have to stop you.
If Mr. Kristiansen needed someone to validate his plastic brick idea, we wouldn’t have Lego bricks as we know them today. So, trust you, not others. This is how you become a catalyst of change and true leadership.
Final Thoughts
Throughout my entrepreneurial career, I have chosen and cultivated resilience and you can too. Every question you ask, choice you make, possibility you consider and action you take can lead you forward into a greater future.
In the moments when you could settle for something less or give up altogether, choose to keep going. This is how you strengthen the muscle of resilience. This is how you create business as the malleable, joyful adventure it was meant to be.
