This week, we’re bringing you a guest episode from the Planet Beyond podcast. In this episode, Planet Beyond host Jon Baston-Pitt talks to Resilience Association vice chair Peter Power, about how organisations in the public and private sectors can develop a ‘resilience mindset’.

We live in a world of unparalleled complexity and risk. The structure of our societies rests upon a stack of services—utilities, communications, banking, transport, among others—that themselves rely on a mix of public services and private businesses, both large and small. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. All face threats from bad actors, and from natural disasters, often driven by climate change.

But organisations of all kinds can develop a ‘resilience mindset’, which can help them to overcome catastrophe. Smaller businesses are often more agile, but lack a depth of resources, whereas larger organisations may have the resources, but have a hierarchical structure that can reduce their flexibility. And the public sector, rightly, takes a conservative approach to risk, which can lead to slower responses in a time of crisis.

Developing a resilience mindset can give organisations the ability to respond to catastrophe. But it can also bring a new attitude to risk, and making defensible decisions, which can strengthen an organisation’s overall performance. 

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Planet Beyond is a conversational podcast, published by Fugro, and produced by Reby Media, publishers of Engineering Matters. The podcast takes a broad view of the world of engineering and geodata. It can be found on all good podcast services, or directly here.

Host

Jon Baston-Pitt, Fugro

Guests

Peter Power, vice chair, The Resilience Association