Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back

Discover a powerful new lens for viewing the world with fascinating implications for our companies, economies, societies, and planet as a whole. In this time of turbulence, people are asking the same basic question: What causes one system to break down and another to rebound? The answer to this question is shaping a new field of inquiry focused on one word--resilience. Resilience is the ability of people, communities, and systems to maintain their core purpose and integrity amid unforeseen shocks and surprises. By encouraging adaptation, agility, and cooperation, this new approach will not only help us weather disruptions, but bring about a different way of engaging with the world. Reporting firsthand from the coral reefs of Palau to the back streets of Palestine, Andrew Zolli and Ann Marie Healy show how this new concept allows us to understand major issues afresh, from business planning to social development, from urban planning to national energy security, and in circumstances that affect us all. Says Chris Anderson, editor in chief of "Wired" and "bestselling" author of "The Long Tail" and "Free," "In an increasingly complex world, we can't avoid shocks--we can only build better shock absorbers. This is a brilliant exploration of how best to do that, told with compelling examples and stories."