Redefining resilience

Author: Amanda Smithson

We are often asked by our clients how to test for resilience in candidates. The Oxford Dictionary defines resilience as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. Earlier dictionaries define it as perseverance in the face of difficulty or adversity. Both these definitions contain a rather British stiff upper lip notion that one should just put one’s head down, stay the course, ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. More recent definitions, however, would place adaptability at the heart of resilience and reject the notion that the tougher you are the more successful you will be in favour of valuing flexibility and the ability to change your approach. Perseverance without flexibility becomes a form of banging your head against a strong fence – it may give in eventually, but at what cost to the fence - and the head!