The Herd of Cats

How Entrepreneurs, Improvisers, and Disaster Managers Approach an Uncertain World. A forthcoming book on resilience by @Shardy12.

[Brian Roemmele @BrianRoemmele]

The illusion of certainty, James Burke, 1986.

[The Herd of Cats @theherdofcats]

The parallels of entrepreneurship and disaster management, and the improvisation that both require to prevail. https://t.co/VFwB547GNF

[Helen Bevan @HelenBevan]

Workplace teams today don’t necessarily follow "traditional" development stages - forming, storming, norming & performing. Teams are increasingly dispersed, virtual, temporary & remote. Five characteristics of effective teams in a modern age: https://t.co/gvdUL5PaRj By @rgmcgrath

[The Herd of Cats @theherdofcats]

“It’s setting goals amid mess and uncertainty [that breeds resilience]. Being creative and agile helps you think of different solutions to the problems.” https://t.co/OYQbr1d9MU

[The Herd of Cats @theherdofcats]

Option C: https://t.co/FTExgzykBA via @Modern_Craft

[Brian Bourque @bbourque]

7 years ago I joined a 20-person startup.

I wanted to quit after my first week, but didn't.

Now our company is worth over $1B and has 300+ employees.

Here's what I've learned about succeeding at a startup:

[The Herd of Cats @theherdofcats]

“Many people radically underestimate how important fun is to their resilience, happiness, and mental and physical health.”

[Kimberly Hart @KimberlyEHart]

"Playfulness, connection and flow each have been shown to improve people’s moods and mental health when experienced on their own." Why we all need to have more fun, especially now: https://t.co/n4yj2uY5Ma #Playmatters

[The Herd of Cats @theherdofcats]

As this improv scene from The Office so perfectly shows:

1. Often it’s the actors and comedians that struggle most with creating something in ensemble.

2. Guns (hard no’s) may be dramatic in movies but they kill scenes requiring emergence.

https://t.co/bg1ZAq1eUu

[The Herd of Cats @theherdofcats]

“To navigate this uncertain and complex world, we need to develop our ability to ‘hold’ uncertainty and complexity in ways that don’t over-ride our senses but rather allow us to turn it into an opportunity to deal with it in more thoughtful and constructive ways.”

[Richard Hughes-Jones @rhughesjones]

@AdamMGrant Humans plan to remove uncertainty, but it's an illusion.

Here's why: https://t.co/azb8UYPkEv

[The Herd of Cats @theherdofcats]

Covid was just a dress rehearsal. Can humans collectively mitigate what is now so clearly emerging? https://t.co/DjyxzO7mLE

[The Herd of Cats @theherdofcats]

Resilience, a thread...

This infinity loop is called the Adaptive Cycle. It was first developed to explain the life cycle of forests, and is the most powerfully simple way to describe resilience.

[The Herd of Cats @theherdofcats]

“Some people just seem to bounce back from anything. Here’s what they have in common.” https://t.co/aaikDc78gb

[The Herd of Cats @theherdofcats]

“Unless we expect almost nothing to change, current expertise (which is to say, outdated expertise; unsustainable expertise, brittle expertise) is overvalued.” — @AlexSteffen https://t.co/4eTPu7ytU8

[The Herd of Cats @theherdofcats]

Unknown knowns, or “uncomfortable knowledge”. https://t.co/EN3yXYnUHM

[The Herd of Cats @theherdofcats]

Humans surviving a relatively manageable global pandemic was difficult but it was just a blip compared to the challenges that the #ClimateCrisis will present.

[nora bateson @NoraBateson]

It is not that the unknown & uncertain are to be celebrated.

Nor are seminars necessary to learn not to fear the complex & unpredictable.

It's that in a rapidly changing world a script, a strategy, a mechanistic blueprint CANT respond in TIME w the emergence, or the emergency.

[Karthik Sridharan @KarthikS2206]

To survive in startups, you need to thrive in uncertainty and constantly embrace the unexpected.

[The Herd of Cats @theherdofcats]

Startup entrepreneurs work from a place of emergence. In an evolving pandemic, and with uncertainties from climate change (and much else), this perspective and action-oriented approach is a superpower.

More entrepreneurs = more resilience.

[Natalie Bennett @natalieben]

In an #AgeofShocks, we need to talk about resilience

"The fundamental problem behind each of these disruptions is simply the inability of modern supply chains to adjust when something goes wrong, even briefly"
https://t.co/Fno1XtfZtz