What is resilience and how can we build it at multiple levels by building relational capacity? How long can we ask people to be resilient without fixing the underlying problems, and where does resilience fit as we are trying to transform the world? Register here for the last Cafe before the Fall.
- Lauren Hajjar, Suffolk University
- Zachary Hylton, Brandeis University
- Emily Thoman, Brandeis University
- Ninna Meier, Aalborg University
- Carsten Hornstrup, Joint Action Analytics
As calls for “whole-of-society” approaches to complex challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic (Clarke, Hellowell, O’Hanlon, & Eldridge, 2020), social justice (Zheng, 2020), and authoritarianism grow louder, organizations of all types must be prepared to meet these demands (Bartunek, 2022). Communities often serve as ground zero for stakeholders to collectively respond.
There are no simple solutions for communities that are seeking to respond. Communities have multiple stakeholders at multiple levels, many of whom have competing interests. Approaches to large-scale change often do not account for the relational aspects of change and therefore fail to address underlying issues of siloed accountability, goals and knowledge, and the lack of trust and respect (Bartunek, Halogen & Do, 2011). Prior research suggests that developing strong relationships and organizational structures to support collaboration and coordination across professional, organizational and geographical boundaries is essential, especially developing common understandings, shared goals, shared values, mutual respect and trust (Gittell, 2016; Okhuysen & Bechky, 2009).
But can we get stuck in resilience and fail to engage in transformational change?
We're a community of researchers and practitioners, constantly striving to learn from each other. If you're already a member, register below and feel free to bring one or more guests. If you're not a member, reach out to one of our members or the RCC team (relationalcoord@brandeis.edu) for a guest invite - or take a minute and become a member now. We have formed an Innovation Lab to continue working together beyond this Cafe.