The Culture of Resilience
Business culture is usually defined as the set of values, attitudes and principles that guide the conduct of an organization. It is, in theory, their ethical and strategic compass. When those values are defined from the start – a clear vision, a shared purpose, and a coherent way of acting—people find meaning in their work and the organization moves forward together.
However, the culture that is lived on a day-to-day basis does not always coincide with that proclaimed in institutional documents. Frequently, a “parallel culture” emerges, built on customs, inertia and habits that contradict declared values. That cultural dissonance is one of the main enemies of organizational resilience. To strengthen a truly resilient culture, we must first recognize the behaviours and beliefs that inadvertently weaken it. Below are some examples of practices that, under the guise of order or efficiency, end up undermining the ability of companies to adapt to the situation. In this blog, Juan Manuel Gil, Managing Director at F24 Spain, breaks down the steps to create a culture of resilience.
Culture of false security
In many companies, and a good example is in the field of cybersecurity, preparation is confused with the acquisition of technology. Investments are made in tools, software or equipment that act as defensive walls, while minimizing the need to plan the response when an incident inevitably occurs.
Improved responsiveness is critical to survival. Even large corporations, with above-average resources, suffer from gaps that prove that risk never goes away. However, the idea persists that “it is not going to happen to us.” This culture of complacency transforms trust into laziness and hinders an honest assessment of risk, compromising the future of the organization.
Culture of “compliance”
Regulatory compliance should be an instrument for improvement. However, in many companies it has become a bureaucratic procedure: an exercise in ticking boxes. Standards are perceived as an imposition of the regulator or a fad, rather than an opportunity to be more efficient, transparent, and proactive.
This reductionist vision generates a false sense of security. The rule is complied with, but the purpose that sustains it is unknown. Instead of promoting resilience, the culture of “comply and lie” consolidates mediocrity and blocks the possibility of learning.
Culture of digital incoherence
In the age of digitalization, many companies boast of having transformed their processes and offering advanced digital environments. However, behind closed doors, the reality is usually different. Tools designed for other purposes are “cannibalized”, solutions are improvised and it is assumed that this is enough.
A recurring example is risk analysis: spreadsheets are still used for complex systems that require traceability and constant updating. In crisis management, everyday platforms such as Teams are used, which do not guarantee availability or effectiveness outside working hours and which, due to their familiarity, lose any sense of urgency.
This incoherence between public discourse and internal practice reflects a misunderstood savings culture: it projects modernity, but erodes real resilience
Hierarchical and unequal culture in crisis management
Another common paradox is that of organizations that focus all their efforts on providing the Crisis Committee with sophisticated tools, but leave the operational teams – the ones who really need to act – without equivalent resources.
Added to this is an even more serious incongruity: rigorous security audits are required of suppliers, while internally the use of unaudited channels, such as WhatsApp, for critical communications is normalized.
Resilience is not built from the top, but from coherence. All participants must have the skills, information and means to respond effectively. In many cases, there is a lack of a culture of co-responsibility.
Other cultures that corrode from within
There are other cultural patterns that are less visible, but just as damaging to resilience:
- The culture of silos, which puts the interests of each area before the common good.
- The culture of complacency, which lives installed in the present and avoids looking at the horizon.
- The culture of fear and concealment, where error is punished and silence is rewarded.
- The culture of resistance to change, which clings to the known even when it no longer works.
- The culture of risk denial, which ignores the warnings of the past and present, and repeats the same mistakes.
These practices act like termites: they slowly but inexorably erode resilience.
Redesigning culture to sustain resilience
Peter Drucker stated that “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. If culture is harmful, resilience is not even achieved.
Combating these cultural vices requires consciously designing organizational culture, not as a list of inspiring values, but as a living system of behaviors, decisions, and results to achieve the desired goals by explaining the purpose, the benefits to be obtained, and the path to achieve it. In this way, everyone’s commitment is achieved and the culture will endure, even with changes in management teams.
A truly resilient company is not one that never suffers an impact, but one that learns, adapts and emerges stronger from each crisis. And that is only possible when culture does not kill resilience, but feeds it.
Contributed by F24 Experts
F24 is Europe’s leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider for resilience. More than 5,500 customers worldwide rely on F24’s digital solutions, which support companies and organisations through all areas of resilience. Solutions cover business messaging and service notification, emergency and mass notification, incident and crisis management, as well as governance, risk and compliance.
