In today’s economically unstable world, crises facing startups are increasingly frequent and consecutive. Global disruptions—ranging from supply chain issues and market volatility to health crises, cyber threats, and climate pressures—challenge businesses of all sizes.
Most companies eventually recover and re-enter the market, sometimes even stronger and more stable. But the critical question remains: how do companies truly recover?
Experts in entrepreneurship highlight the concept of resilient organizations—companies that do not just recover, but advance and thrive post-crisis.
Five Traits of Fast-Recovering Companies
According to Deloitte, one of the world’s largest professional services firms, resilient companies share five key characteristics:
1. Proactive Preparedness
Companies that prepare for crises before they occur have multiple short- and long-term scenario plans. Over 85% of executives in companies that successfully navigated crises report high resilience and adaptability due to prior strategic planning.
2. Flexibility and Adaptability
Building flexibility into the company culture and workforce before crises occur—through training, reskilling, and flexible work arrangements—is essential for fast recovery. About 75% of companies that successfully rebounded had tested multiple approaches to instill resilience in employees.
3. Collaboration
Breaking down silos between departments enables faster decision-making, risk reduction, and innovation during crises. Collaborative teams can create integrated solutions, which not only help recovery but also lay the foundation for growth.
4. Trust
Establishing trust with employees, customers, and stakeholders—both directly and digitally—reduces the impact of crises. Trust prioritizes safety, mental well-being, morale, and data security.
5. Responsibility
Resilient companies balance profit with social responsibility. About 87% of fast-recovering companies successfully balanced customer needs, rapid response, and organizational transformation during major disruptions.
Sustainable Recovery Systems
McKinsey emphasizes that recovery should be sustainable, not temporary. Key principles include:
A holistic mindset prioritizing resilience
Psychological safety
Adaptive leadership
Cohesive culture
McKinsey suggests enhancing resilience on four simultaneous levels:
1. Agile Organization
Faster, decentralized, data-driven decision-making enables learning, experimentation, and course correction.
2. Empowered Teams
Teams close to customers, small and cross-functional, should have decision-making autonomy, clear accountability, and rapid feedback loops.
3. Adaptive Leaders
Leaders must model adaptability, share lessons with teams, admit they don’t have all answers, and listen regularly to employees.
4. Investment in Talent and Innovation
A productive environment that fosters creativity not only accelerates recovery but can turn crises into opportunities for new growth initiatives.
Turning Crises Into Launchpads
Companies can transform crises into opportunities by following these strategies:
Make scenario planning habitual, preparing for multiple crisis scenarios.
Close decision-making gaps and establish rapid response mechanisms for critical days.
Prioritize human flexibility over technology through training, reskilling, and flexible work arrangements.
Break down interdepartmental silos to solve major problems quickly.
Embed trust into operations by prioritizing safety, mental health support, and data protection.
By adopting these principles, startups can not only survive crises but emerge stronger, more resilient, and ready for new opportunities.
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