Resilience is Grown, Not Engineered

Just how many fluffy quotable quotes about resiliency does a person need?

“Forget failures.” 

“Forget mistakes.”

“Stand up one more time.”

“Try again.”

Thank you, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, and Confucius. But it’s not enough.

When we talk about resiliency - so much attention is paid to the individual. Certainly an important part of the topic - but helping people develop greater personal resilience is only part of the equation.  

I recently ran across a model from the Dale Carnegie & Associates organization. Resilience is rather like a set of nesting dolls.  Individual resilience nests inside team resilience, which nests inside organizational resilience.

In other words, developing resiliency is not just an inside job for individuals. There’s work to be done at the team and organizational levels to nurture an environment that supports the resilience of its people, its systems, and its business. 

A key part of this challenge is understanding how people experience change. Resilience isn’t just about mindset; it’s deeply tied to the way our brains respond to uncertainty and disruption. So what’s a leader to do? 

This is where the neurology of change comes in.

Dr. Britt Andreatta has dedicated her career to researching brain science and its impact on people and teams. In her book “Wired to Resist,” she explores four neurological systems impacted by change. As leaders, if we understand these four systems - we can find ways to help strengthen the resilience of our organization - in support of our teams and our people.

AMYGDALA

This ancient part of the human brain is concerned with our survival and is wired to detect even the smallest change. It’s the home to our “fight-flight-freeze” response, triggered by fear.  Just as importantly, in the absence of information, the amygdala will fill in worst-case scenarios. Imagine trying to be resilient when your brain is screaming, “Warning! The sky is falling!” In moments like these, people may feel overwhelmed and panicked.

Leaders: Given today’s levels of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity), it’s a challenge to foster work environments that enable the amygdala to relax completely. However, you can mitigate its impact by communicating consistently and clearly as early as possible. Don’t give the amygdala time to fill in the blanks with worry and anxiety. Look for modern “fight” responses— such as criticism, blaming, sarcasm, teasing, or shaming — as well as “flight/freeze” behaviors like nonparticipation, avoidance, excuses, or stonewalling. These may be signs that your team is struggling with uncertainty. Providing support, coaching, and psychological safety can help counteract these responses. 

Entorhinal Cortex 

Researchers have discovered that our brains house an internal GPS system that helps us navigate our way through physical and social spaces. This brain structure creates social maps of people and relationships and is vital to having a feeling of belonging. During periods of change, these mental maps get updated and rewired—but this takes time.  With each reorganization, new boss, new work location, or team change, the entorhinal cortex struggles to keep up, and people may feel disoriented or disconnected.

Leaders: Change disrupts not just workflows but also relationships and team dynamics. Look for opportunities to reinforce a sense of belonging for your team members. As much as possible, give people time to reestablish trust and rapport in their work relationships. Even small gestures—such as structured team introductions, mentoring opportunities, or informal check-ins—can help people regain footing and reestablish connections as their mental maps adjust. 

Basal Ganglia

This part of the brain is responsible for transforming behaviors that we do frequently into habits. The basal ganglia help the brain conserve energy because habits on autopilot use much less energy than new actions requiring our full attention. It’s no wonder that constant change at work can leave people feeling drained and exhausted. When everything keeps changing, people may feel like they don’t know what to do or how to do it.

Leaders: The basal ganglia create new habits through a “habit loop”. 

• Cue (the trigger to begin the new behavior)
• Routine (the behavior itself)
• Reward (the reward we get for completing the new behavior)

To help people develop new habits and conserve their energy, look for opportunities to reinforce repetition. Establishing a new habit typically takes 40 to 50 repetitions—so consistency matters. Additionally, consider how often and how well you recognize and reward new behaviors. Positive reinforcement strengthens the habit loop and helps people feel more confident in uncertain environments. 

Habenula 

This part of the brain governs critical thinking and decision-making by creating chemical guardrails that moderate our behavior. It releases feel-good chemicals like dopamine and serotonin as a reward for desired behaviors. At the same time, it tries to protect us from failure by suppressing motivation and physical behavior in situations where we might fail. In other words - if you’ve ever felt like you just can’t find the motivation to do something - it may be your habenula attempting to protect you from failing. When this happens in the workplace, people may hesitate to take risks, contribute ideas, or even engage in new challenges.

Leaders: Failure is unavoidable—but how your organization responds to it makes all the difference. Does failure lead to reflection and learning, or does it result in comparison, criticism, and blame? Psychological safety and emotional intelligence are essential in counteracting the habenula’s fear response. 

 When leaders create spaces where small failures are seen as opportunities for growth rather than threats, the habenula learns that it doesn’t need to shut down motivation in response to risk. In doing so, we “fool” the habenula into standing down, allowing innovation to flourish and success to emerge from failure. Look for opportunities to reinforce a safe environment for failure through regular experimentation and candid feedback. Consider practices like retrospectives or debriefs focused on insights rather than fault-finding. The more people see failure as a step toward growth, the less likely they are to withdraw or disengage.

All this to say  - we’ve got some good news. And we’ve got some bad news.

The bad news: Each of these four neurological systems can seriously impact the resilience of our organizations, teams, and people. Taken together  - they are a dangerous cocktail with the potential to knock an organization completely off course from the pursuit of its purpose. 

The good news: Understanding these four neurological systems can empower leaders to improve how they support the resilience of their people and their organizations. Coupled with the Domains and Capabilities of Business Agility - we can help our organizations develop the resiliency to achieve their purpose.  No matter what the future brings.

By: Laura Powers is the CEO of the Business Agility Institute and had something on her mind about the role of the mind, so she hopes that you won't mind taking some of your time to keep these concepts in mind. 

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