It’s the word of the moment-resilience-and there’s little wonder why. In the past three years, a brutal pandemic and its economic fallout have knocked the world to its knees. Across many months, policymakers have responded in inconsistent, politicized ways as workplaces were shuttered, supply chains were shattered, and people suffered blows to their physical health, mental well-being, and financial security. Our ability to snap back to productive rhythms, systems, and ecosystems has depended-and still depends-on our personal and organizational capacities for resilience.

Yet, resilience can also carry a backward-looking sense that doesn’t feel sufficient to the moment. In many ways, our constantly, dynamically changing context has lurched ahead, and we must accomplish more than a return to the status quo ante. The challenge is to come back from setback stronger-with a revised understanding of societies and markets and a greater capacity to rise to future challenges.

We need a resilience that is forward-looking-that is fundamentally creative.