In 2026, resilience is not just a buzzword, it is essential for every organisation.
From supply chain volatility (global events like Trump’s tariffs, increasing costs, and logistics issues) to workforce fatigue (burnout, skill shortages, constant change) and digital saturation (new technology, AI, and rising expectations), businesses are under relentless strain.
Yet the companies that continue to perform are not necessarily those with the biggest budgets or the newest tech. They are the ones that have built resilient cultures that can absorb shocks, adapt fast, and recover stronger.
Traditional change programmes tend to be top-down, slow, and linear, assuming a stable environment. Today, however, conditions shift too fast for that way of thinking. By the time a plan is approved, it is often already outdated. That is why resilience now depends less on long-term projects and more on adaptive teams, continuous improvement, and cross-functional collaboration, the kind of thinking that Henkan promotes.
At Henkan, we see resilience as something engineered through both people and systems. It is not a soft skill, and it is not just a mindset. It is a culture built on clear principles, tight strategies, and the discipline to keep learning even when the ground shifts beneath you.
Resilience starts with people
Resilience starts with people, but it does not end there. It is not something you can train in a classroom. It comes from understanding how people respond under pressure, what triggers stress, what drives motivation, and what values are being tested.
At Henkan, we talk about mindset, skill-set, and tool-set. You can give people the tools and skills to help them be resilient, but the mindset piece takes time, reflection (and a really clear understanding of the strategic priorities and direction – but that comes later). Development of mindset is where coaching, feedback, and psychological safety matter.
In capability development, frustration sits between not knowing and wisdom, and resilience is the ability to tolerate that space long enough to find a solution.
Resilient cultures make space for learning rather than pushing harder when things get tough. They treat setbacks as opportunities to pause, reflect, and improve, not reasons to double down. One simple way to do this is through the Plan, Do, Study, Adjust cycle, a structured habit that helps teams stop, analyse what happened, and adapt before moving on to the next challenge.
When that behaviour becomes part of how teams operate every day, it scales beyond individuals, shaping a culture where learning and improvement are built into the system itself.
Leadership’s role: Empowerment and systems thinking
Leadership is what ties people and systems together. Resilience is a leadership challenge because it depends on how well leaders create clarity, build trust, and remove barriers so others can deliver.
In lean terms, the traditional hierarchy is flipped. The most valuable people in an organisation are those closest to the work, the ones who build the product, treat the patient, or serve the customer. The role of leadership is to support them, not manage them.
That requires systems thinking. Leaders need to see how cause and effect ripple across a business. When one part of the system is squeezed, another compensates. Without that whole-system view, change efforts can end up cancelling each other out.
The organisations that can see those connections, and empower their people to act within them, are the ones that adapt fastest.
How to build resilience in 2026
In 2026, resilience is not just a leadership quality, it is an organisational capability. The pace of change, digital disruption, and ongoing cost pressures mean every team needs systems and habits that can adapt quickly.
Resilience does not appear overnight. It grows through a series of deliberate choices and habits that, over time, change how an organisation thinks and behaves.
Based on Henkan’s experience helping teams improve performance under pressure, these seven steps show how to turn resilience from a concept into a daily reality:
Step 1: Diagnose the cracks
Identify where resilience breaks down, whether in people or processes. High frustration, rework, and stalled projects are often signs of system failure, not individual weakness. Ask, “What are people forced to work around?” Fix those gaps first.
Step 2: Strengthen the people
Resilience grows from mindset and reflection, not training. Build safe spaces for learning and coaching. Simple practices such as project debriefs and one-to-one reviews turn reflection into habit.
Step 3: Stabilise the system
Create a tight strategy and flexible delivery. When teams know the priorities, they can adapt without chaos. Use daily management, visual systems, and clear standards to provide rhythm and control.
Step 4: Lead through empowerment
Empower teams to act where the value is created. Flip the hierarchy so leaders serve, support, and remove obstacles. Avoid learned helplessness by trusting teams to improve their own work.
Step 5: Build learning into the loop
Treat every challenge as data. After projects or setbacks, ask what was expected, what happened, and what will change. Continuous learning turns reflection into resilience.
Step 6: Focus on data that drives action
AI and automation have turned on the data fire hydrant, but information overload does not create resilience, it creates paralysis. Choose a few metrics that matter, define them clearly, and use them to drive decisions, not reports.
Step 7: Make improvement part of the identity
Resilience takes root when improvement becomes part of who people are. Small, consistent actions build confidence and stability until adaptability becomes second nature.
These seven steps outline how to build resilience in practice, but the real strength of a resilient organisation lies in what holds those steps together. The habits that make resilience last are not one-off actions, they are built into how people think, plan, and work every day.
These habits are the building blocks of resilient culture, the underlying principles that give teams both stability and flexibility in a changing world.
