Resilience: for Olympians… and Business Analysts

Olympics and Resilience

Resilience: for Olympians… and Business Analysts

As the 2024 Olympics approached, we asked the team at AssistKD to suggest adjectives to describe the qualities of winning Olympic athletes. Resilience was the word which came up most often. 

Professional athletes need considerable focus, commitment, and determination to get to the Olympics. But they depend on resilience to cope with injuries, recover physically from gruelling training and competition, and keep their self-belief after a loss.

Just like the best athletes, the best BAs have the resilience to recover quickly from challenges such as project setbacks, an undervaluing of their role and difficult stakeholders. But can this all-important quality be learned and developed? The good news is that it can, and there are tools, resources, and models to help.

One way to develop resilience is to learn from past challenges we have overcome. We may prefer not to relive the challenging times of our lives, but reflecting on them in a structured way can improve our self-efficacy (the belief we need to begin the process of dealing with a situation).

The 4 S’s Model

A useful model to consider in respect of self-efficacy was developed by Dr Lucinda Poole and Dr Hugo Alberts and is called the 4 S’s (Dr Lucinda Poole and Dr Hugo Alberts quoted in Positive Psychology.com – 3 Resilience Exercises. https://PositivePsychologyProgram.com). The model invites us to develop a personal resilience plan based on the experience of ‘bouncing back’ from difficulties. Any plan will be unique to the individual, drawing on their own personal experiences.

The 4 S’s are headed as follows:

  • Supports that keep you upright. The individuals and resources  that provide genuine support.
  • Strategies that keep you moving. Think how you cope with negative thoughts. There might be a go-to song, film, or place to visit that will always help you to look forward and gain positivity. 
  • Sagacity that gives you comfort and hope. The wisdom we have gained from previous experiences that brings an element of confidence to face future challenges.  
  • Solution-seeking behaviours that you can demonstrate. The behaviours you have demonstrated in the past to respond to challenging situations. For example, seeking out more information to help establish the root cause of a problem.       
     

The model is illustrated below in a simple grid.

4s

The general advice is to complete the grid twice. Your first completed grid should be based on a past situation and provide a picture of the elements that helped you on that occasion. Your second grid is an opportunity to explore what may work to overcome the current challenge, using both past and new insights.   

An example of the first grid is below. No identifications with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products are intended or should be inferred.
 

 

Scribbling your way through a model may not be your first thought when facing tough times. However, the 4S’s is a simple and effective means of improving self-efficacy. It will not answer all the immediate issues you face but may play some small part in giving a sense of control and finding ways forward (Thanks to N. Hewitt for highlighting this model and its usefulness). 

Resilience Resources

This webinar enabled attendees to learn exactly what is meant by resilience, with approaches for building their own resilience.

This BA Brew on Resilience is about how you can develop resilience as a BA.

Finally, here is a list of further resilience resources and resilience hints and tips which AssistKD put together during the pandemic. We hope you find it useful.   

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