Resilience is the capacity to absorb shocks and retain function

Shocks to a system negatively impact the system to the degree that the system does not have the capacity to absorb shocks and retain its function. Resilience is the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and still retain its basic function and structure.^[1] When encountering a shock or disturbance, the system’s response “depends on its particular context, its connections across scales, and its current state. Every situation is different; things are always changing. It’s a complex world.”^[2] In terms of Resilience Thinking:

Resilience is the capacity of a system to … undergo some change without crossing a threshold to a different system regime—a system with a different identity. A resilient social-ecological system in a “desirable” state (such as a productive agricultural region or industrial region) has a greater capacity to continue providing us with the goods and services that support our quality of life while being subjected to a variety of shocks.^[3]

Specifically, resilience thinking is focused on thresholds—the proximity of a system to a threshold and the complex forces that could drive it across a threshold.

Resilience thinking is about envisaging a system in relation to thresholds. Is it approaching a threshold beyond which it will be in a new regime? What forces—economic, social, and environmental—are driving the system toward this threshold?^[4]

Antifragile Systems are resilient systems that are not only able to absorb shocks and disturbances without losing basic functionality, but become stronger because of them.

#systems #resilience