Resourcefulness and how it relates to Entrepreneurial Resiliency

The word resilience has become a very popular buzz word in business and beyond.  There are many ways it has been used and interpreted but essentially it is the ability to recover from difficult circumstances. It’s a quality that is very much in line with the entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, speaking with members of the EDGE (Entrepreneurial Discussion Group Exchange), I often hear stories from our members past experiences, about circumstances that led them to realize that their outlook was less than positive.  They talk about feeling blocked or frustrated, they sensed that they could do a whole lot more in a timelier manner. They realized that they needed to pivot to seek out the opportunity to emerge stronger, happier and more fulfilled. In other words, they needed a skillset that would help them recover from difficult circumstances.

However, the act of resiliency is usually not an easy fix.  Simply making changes to your life, your business, your approach, or your attitude does not guarantee that you will be resilient and emerge stronger and able to move forward in a revitalized manner.  Real resiliency is dependent on making changes that are strategic, well thought out, grounded in reality, and that leverage appropriate resources that you can apply in an effective manner.

How can you make such change that might lead to resiliency?  Over 50 years ago behavioural psychologist Michael Rosenbaum developed a self-management model called learned resourcefulness to explain key elements that are necessary to make effective change.  His model has been adapted to many environments including education, athletics and even entrepreneurship.

As a behaviourist, Rosenbaum viewed the stress that people experience when they are blocked from achieving their goals as the motivating factor that people seek to reduce or control. Using learned resourcefulness self-management tools can help to deliver change that leads to stress reduction and positive outcomes.

Rosenbaum outlines four sets of resourcefulness skills:

1. Resourceful individuals employ positive self-statements (such as “I can cope”) when faced with a challenge. This leads to controlling physiological effects of the stressor.

   • It provides the individual the ability to step back, anchor themselves, take a deep breath, and begin to take stock of the situation and elements of the problem they face.

   • Though a viable solution might not be immediately apparent, by taking the attitude that it is out there, it motivates one to look, encourages them to break things down into manageable pieces and sets up a mindset to consider the possibilities.

2. Resourceful individuals have a repertoire of problem-solving strategies that can be applied to the current challenge.  These strategies include the ability to plan, define the problem, evaluate alternatives and anticipate outcomes and consequences.

   • Applying personal problem-solving approaches can also include carrying out additional research, reaching out to support networks (like the EDGE community) for insights, input and feedback.

3. Resourceful individuals can delay small rewards (like going out for coffee) to stay focused on the present challenge.

   • This reduces avoidance and procrastination while reinforcing the individual only when meaningful progress has been achieved.

4. Resourceful people accept that positive change takes considerable effort.

   • The individual needs to be prepared to take on the necessary challenge. And if the individual deems it too much or the possibility of achieving the goal is just not realistic, then revisiting step two would be required.

Change does not always have to be monumental.  It can also be applied to smaller circumstances to solve or tweak a specific issue.

In the coming weeks, we will be discussing each skill set in more detail, exploring how it can be applied to different entrepreneurs’ experiences, and seeing what might be added to this approach to make it even more applicable and helpful.