The resilience Protocol

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In the dynamic landscape of modern business, the pursuit of growth, market expansion, profitability, and successful exits often dominates strategic planning. However, an undeniable truth persists: the future is inherently uncertain. Economic shifts, market disruptions, and unforeseen challenges can emerge at any moment, necessitating a pivot from solely focusing on expansion to actively building organizational resilience. As Dwight D Eisenhower said, “Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

The Resilience Protocol is a strategic framework designed to equip leadership teams with the tools and processes needed to anticipate, prepare for, and navigate adverse circumstances. This protocol, typically delivered in a full-day session, comprises five simple components that empower businesses to not only survive but also to sustain progress even when the fog rolls in.

The Resilience Protocol white paper

The Resilience Protocol Webinar

This webinar is hosted by author of The Resilience Protocol and will include expanded guidance on the 5 steps as well as Q&A.

  1. Scenario Planning: selecting your impact drivers, modeling the future and applying the variables you can’t control
  2.  Revenue Analysis: Customer and Product Segmentation, cost and profit estimation
  3. Workforce Plans: Skills mapping, A players, and Undesirable Exits
  4. Process Documentation: Pilot Checklists, Training and Revising
  5. Trigger Point: Determining when to make changes, updating your models, and building your If/Then catalog.

Jim Haviland’s “The Resilience Protocol” is a five-step framework designed to help businesses navigate economic uncertainty. The protocol involves:

  • Scenario Planning: Identifying two high-impact factors to create four potential scenarios (e.g., “Smooth Sailing,” “Slow but Steady,” “Pivot,” “Hunker Down”). This step emphasizes creating a structured way to prepare for multiple possible futures, with each scenario including projections for key metrics like revenue, COGS, net profit, and headcount.
  • Revenue Analysis: Analyzing revenue streams to identify the most valuable and resilient products and customers under different scenarios. This helps businesses prioritize and plan how to maximize profit, potentially by dropping certain products or customers.
  • Workforce Planning: Evaluating staffing needs for each scenario and categorizing employees (A, B, or C players) to identify essential roles. This includes creating different organizational charts for each scenario and using “revenue and profit per employee” to find the optimal staffing level.
  • Process Documentation: Documenting critical processes to ensure business continuity during transitions and staff changes. This step involves identifying critical processes for each scenario, determining how many people are trained on them, and looking for opportunities to automate, delegate, elevate, or eliminate processes.
  • Establishing Trigger Points: Setting clear metrics and leading indicators to determine when to implement different scenario plans. This helps overcome optimism bias and ensures timely action based on predefined thresholds.

The implementation typically requires a full-day session with leadership and board members, with preparation beforehand. The goal is to create specific action plans for each scenario, including staffing adjustments, process improvements, and financial targets.

Action items for the leadership team include:

  • Gathering revenue data, profit margins, and staffing information.
  • Identifying the two highest-impact factors and creating four scenario plans.
  • Categorizing staff and documenting critical processes.
  • Establishing clear trigger points and metrics.
  • Assigning quarterly initiatives for process documentation and cross-training.
  • Exploring automation, especially with AI.
  • Calculating revenue and profit per employee.
  • Adding key metrics to scorecards for early warning.