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Resilience 2.0: Luck Exists, as Long as it Finds You Working

By Javier García - IOS OFFICES
CEO

STORY INLINE POST

By Javier García Iza | CEO - Mon, 09/05/2022 - 11:00

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In February 2020, as the COVID-19 virus emerged from China and spread around the world, nobody really knew how much this event would affect us. As the days went by, we all watched through different media outlets the images of human bodies being clinically handled and news about hospitals being at full capacity.

During this time, many questions came to me. What will happen to my family? What will happen to my friends? My co-workers? How will we survive this crisis? Will we survive?

As a company, over the years we have faced different challenges, including earthquakes, hurricanes, droughts, fires, and the 2009 financial crisis. We were able to overcome these difficult situations by applying strategic principles that are the basis of our inspiring community.

Resilience 2.0

Resilience refers to the ability of a material body to be submitted to stress and return to its original shape. Furthermore, Resilience 2.0, the way I see it, should be defined as the ability of a body to be subjected to stress for it not only to return to its original form but to overcome, adapt and shape itself into an even stronger body. This is how we human beings are and this is how our companies, organizations, communities and countries should be.

All of this makes me think of when you go to the gym. At the beginning, you feel sore but as you consistently increase your reps, the weight, the stress, your perseverance makes you stronger. As a result, you improve your physical condition and your health.

This behavior is based on four specific pillars that our community is built on: a culture of happiness, cost-effective processes that ensure the highest quality services in our market, our focus and determination on achieving our objectives, and the discipline and tenacity that is reflected in our hard work.

Happiness

To understand happiness more thoroughly, we must consider that the human brain is made up of three different parts: the reptilian part that refers to the most primitive part of the brain, the mammalian part that works with the limbic system, and manages long- and short-term memory while regulating our emotions in the face of any kind of danger, and the neocortex, considered the most evolved part of the brain, where intelligence and problem-solving happen. Considering this, which should we perceive as more important, to be alive or to be intelligent?

The combination of the reptilian and limbic systems guides us toward the activation of survival mechanisms that keep us breathing and evolving. In a situation of stress, whether it is a lion attacking us or a mean gesture from a colleague, we enter a state of freezing, fleeing or fighting, generating discomfort that might well be interpreted as unhappiness. In organizations like ours, we practice hygienic incentives, such as status, salary, job security, working conditions, leadership practices and company policies. These generate stability among our associates and promote enjoying what they do while avoiding situations of stress by giving the associate a place in our community. On the other hand, we also practice motivators, such as contribution, recognition, responsibility, personal development, challenges and sense of belonging within the organization. This allows growth and improvement, while promoting love and respect for the work done, generating a safe and happy environment for everyone.

Quality

For us, doing things right is a priority. As a teen, being a fan of auto mechanics, I saw a sign at a shop that read: “We can do things faster, cheaper or better … choose two.” Years later, while attending Singularity University, co-founder Peter Diamandis mentioned that organizations must do things faster, better AND cheaper, all three from the start.  Taking his experience as an example, I understood the only choice should be to offer the best quality, independently of the price or time frame. Yet, how can we achieve this permanently?

Jim Collins makes a good point about this in his book, Good to Great, when he talks about the flywheel effect in chapter 8. Collins refers to the example of a big flywheel that when pushed continuously, creates momentum and eventually rotates with the force of its own weight. I believe this can also be done in organizations where a leader understands that the assignment is to work with your colleagues in a constant and well-directed manner until the tasks at hand seamlessly perform by themselves.

Objectives

Visualizing what you want to achieve is essential to advance and reach your goals. Stephen Covey clearly states in his book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” that visualizing our desired results gives us a sense and perspective that leads our actions toward what truly gives meaning to our lives. Having goals though, is not enough; to reach them, we should be open to learn and unlearn, willing to understand the process and commit to it with discipline. On this topic, Joe Friel, poses an important question: “Do you have a goal or a desire?” A desire feels like a goal but usually lacks a plan. Plans give direction, reflect discipline and indicate that you are prepared and ready to work hard to achieve your goals.

Hard Work

During our most recent integration event, “Summer Fest,” I overheard a group of people questioning the success of one of our best sales agents, Gonzalo. I decided to approach and ask them: “Do you think Gonzalo is an alien or that he has superpowers? The evident answer was “No.” He is just as human as any of them. The big difference is that he hustles every minute of his working day and this hard work pays off with tangible results that usually exceed his commercial goals month to month.

I refer to Gonzalo as a true winner, someone with tenacity. His tenacity could be detailed by the kind of game any of us are willing to play; in playing to win or lose, it is most probable that you will lose ... but in playing specifically to win, and to keep winning, there is a much higher probability of winning over and over again.

While applying these four pillars of our organization, in the midst of the COVID-19 chaos, IOS OFFICES achieved Resilience 2.0. We are the only co-work in Mexico that did not close, knowing that our clients needed to have a place to work in order to keep national and international economies in motion. We nurtured every relationship, kept connections going, persevered as a company with a true commitment to our partners, and put in all the hard work while we focused on our specific goals in order to come out of this adverse situation stronger, with a smile, and living by the mantra: “Luck exists, as long as it finds you working.”

Photo by:   Javier García

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