Origins of “Mechanisms for Resilience”

The title “Mechanisms for Resilience” is partially a nod to the “mechanism” reference of David Marquet in “Turn the Ship Around” and “resilience” as described by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in “Antifragile.” It is also a phrase that resonated with me.

As an engineer, scientist, and lover of math, I have always found comfort in reductionist thinking, especially considering my below average rote memory. I instinctively gravitate towards guiding principles and fundamental building blocks which can be applied in a situation specific configuration. I don’t think of Agile, project management, product management, business management or even leadership as isolated concepts. I see all of those as specific configurations of a great number of fundamental building blocks or mechanisms, many of which are shared.

I also naturally optimize for resilience over efficiency and, though not always appropriate, it has served me well.

This approach has been an integral part of my whole career, but I never explicitly named it. That changed in 2016 when three things happened in rapid succession. I read Nicholas Taleb’s “Antifragile” which articulately describes the continuum of efficiency through resilience to anti-fragility. I also re-read David Marquet’s “Turn the Ship Around” where he presents his approach as a series of mechanisms. Finally I joined an organization to lead their transformation towards higher resilience, and I needed a mental model conveying digestible concepts of change. As a trained mechanical engineer, it is easy to see how “Mechanisms for Resilience” would naturally flow from these events. It started as a title of convenience, and then it stuck and I have been using it since.