Resiliently resilient, a brief history

Resiliently resilient, a brief history

Author : Elizabeth Lawson, EngD student. Her host university is University of Exeter and her project, 'Rooting out resilience' is sponsored by Northumbrian Water.

As I explained in my last post I am currently enrolled on an EngD in collaboration with Northumbrian Water and Exeter University, however so far, I am yet to explain exactly what my project is and more to the point, what I am going to be completely engrossed in over the next four years. So here I thought I would provide you with a quick introduction.

My official project title is 'Rooting out resilience: developing and embedding metrics in the water industry'. This essentially means that it is now my job to investigate and evaluate the capacity of Northumbrian Water, and other water companies within the UK, to deal with risks posed to them both as a business and as a supplier of a critical resource, and ultimately make suggestions on how the business can overall become a more resilient organisation. To put it even more simply, I need to find a way to make sure the water industry is ready to deal with and bounce back from any crisis or shock that they may face, independent of whether it is operational, financial or corporate. Whilst maintaining their ability to provide high quality water and waste water services now and into the future.

So, 'what really is resilience, where did it come from, and why is it so important?' I hear you ask. Well luckily for you I thought I would give you a brief history.

Recently the term 'resilience' has been appearing increasingly, in specialised articles, national strategies, business publications or just day to day conversation, covering anything from psychology to business strategy. However, where it has suddenly come from and why resilience is now so 'on trend' is a question that many people continue to pose.

The term itself is believed to have originally come into use via French from the Latin verb resaltare which means to bounce back, to get moving again or to result from. Others consider it to come from the verb resilire which literally means to jump backwards. Either way in more modern language the word continues to be used in a range of nuances which ultimately express the 'notion of adapting to circumstances in the face of, or as a result of a shocking event'.

The word has long since been used in a range of scientific fields whether it is in ecology to 'define the ability of an ecosystem to maintain its function when faced with a disturbance', or in metallurgy, in which it is simply a 'measure of the resistance of a metal bar to shock'. However, it is the field of psychology where the concept of resilience has been more widely used and repeatedly promoted, on an individual level over the past few decades. Here the term was introduced by Boris Cyrulnik as the 'capacity to carry on regardless, in environments that ought to lead to breakdown'. In a broader sense resilience here refers to the capability to continue, post suffering or post shock therefore defining a form of immediate or rediscovered stability.

Even more recently the term has been expanded to cover and apply to an organisation as well as the individual. With the view that 'resilience does not offer the possibility to resist wind and tide, but is instead the ability to create a structure that crisis or shock, even when completely unpredictable can be withstood by a company, with the possibility that the company could become even stronger after the event'. It is this organisational level of resilience, including financial, corporate and operational, what it comprises of, how it is achieved and how it is implemented, that my specific project will be focussed on.

It is therefore my aim that, through the application of a range of methodologies I will ultimately be able to provide a grounding in the business for different types of resilience (e.g. infrastructure, environment- supply and demand, customer, business), how it is currently managed and any challenges for the future. Well that's the hope any way. As for how this works out, I'll keep you updated!