April 21, 2025
Learn how resilient systems built for adaptability—not just efficiency—can help public and social leaders stay effective through disruption and uncertainty.
By definition, a complex system is unpredictable. However, lately, it seems like we’ve reached a new level of unpredictability.
The scale and speed of current disruptions makes us realise the ways we’ve traditionally managed change and challenges no longer serve us. We may need to learn how to live with and build for unpredictability long term, especially as it applies to delivering effective public and social services.
True resilience is the ability of a system to adapt and maintain its core functions through disruption, without crumbling under pressure. It’s about evolving, not just surviving, and emerging from challenges stronger than before.
Resilient systems don’t just withstand stress; they adapt and continue to function, redefining what’s essential while shedding the unnecessary. They spread stress across components instead of allowing it to concentrate in one vulnerable area. No single shock can overwhelm the whole.
They also have the capacity to gather, analyze, and share information across disparate parts, enabling rapid coordination and a proactive response to emerging challenges and opportunities.
An efficient system is like a Formula One car: optimized for performance under ideal conditions.
A resilient system is more like an all-terrain vehicle. It may not be the fastest on a smooth track, but it can navigate varied landscapes and keep moving when conditions deteriorate.
An example of how systems optimize for performance—in this case, cost-efficiency—can fail when demands or contexts shift is the Australian "Robodebt" scheme.
Introduced in 2015, this automated welfare debt recovery program aimed to reduce government expenditures by identifying and reclaiming overpayments to welfare recipients. The system relied heavily on automation, using income averaging from tax data to calculate alleged overpayments. This approach overlooked critical factors such as fluctuating incomes, legal compliance, and the human impact of errors.
When the program launched, it quickly became apparent that its assumptions were flawed. Automation shifted the burden of proof onto welfare recipients who lacked the resources or knowledge to contest erroneous debts. These issues were exacerbated by the removal of case officers who could provide personalized assistance. The system's lack of adaptability caused widespread distress, including financial hardship and mental health crises among affected individuals.
Building a resilient system is an ongoing process. It’s essential to continue to maintain and improve our all-terrain vehicle to ensure it continues to get us where we need to go.
To do this effectively, public and social impact leaders can adopt five interconnected practices:
This approach differs from traditional contingency planning by focusing on building adaptive capacity rather than planning for specific scenarios that may never materialize exactly as anticipated.
Designing systems that can handle the unknown requires understanding that flexibility is more important than certainty.
We may never be able to predict the future, but we can build systems that move through it with resilience and remain adaptable, collaborative, and prepared to handle what comes next.
