Braver Spaces
Celebrating small, everyday acts of courage to make us more resilient to political, cultural and economic turbulence
A new resilience movement is on the rise, to encourage ordinary citizens, executives, work teams and community members to exhibit small acts of courage to reshape what’s possible—for ourselves, our organizations and our world.
NEW YORK—As I prepared to leave New York to co-run a workshop at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy, several weeks ago, there was something bothering me: fresh storms of clickbait media perpetuating some of the factual errors, disinformation and misinformation being planted by Trumpworld to justify its attacks on civil society and its challenges to free speech and the rule of law.
I grabbed my copy of futurist Andrew Zolli’s 2012 book, Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back, to include in my carry-on luggage, to re-consider a question he would often ask a while ago, pre-Trump—when he was the curator of PopTech, and again more recently. “Are we merely subject to the whim of forces beyond our control?” he queried in Resilience, and asked again, now, during a recent interview in our podcast studio. “Or, in the face of constant disruption, can we build better shock absorbers—for ourselves, our communities, our economies and for the planet as a whole?”
Zolli, now the chief impact officer at Planet, a breakthrough space and AI organization, was one of the first thought leaders to say we could, and now works on new systems that will. He was, and still is, one of the leading thought leaders focused on this century’s emerging field of inquiry focused on resilience.
Zolli’s book, written four years before Trump became President the first time, defined resilience as “the ability of people, communities and systems to maintain their core purpose and integrity amid unforeseen shocks and surprises.”
In today’s political turbulence—there’s a new resilience movement on the rise, with business and civil society leaders stepping forward now to expand that definition of resilience to include what is being widely referred to as “micro-bravery “—everyday acts of individual courage that can transform our work cultures, citizen organizations and political climates for the better.
'Micro-bravery’
“Every day we encounter moments that call for resilience as being a different kind courage, a gentler kind of resistance, the courage to speak up, to question the status quo and to lead with vulnerability,” says Tony Martignetti, the chief inspiration officer at Inspired Purpose Partners, where he advises business leaders to stay grounded in chaotic times.
Scott Simon (not the NPR anchor) —the founder of a consultancy called Scare Your Soul—leads what he calls “courage training.” It’s resilience as a form of public health and a new form of social activism—to help individuals and community leaders experiencing trauma to push through their comfort zones to do and say what they didn’t think to be possible, successfully.
Journalists also are now pushing micro-bravery. In Perugia, at the international journalism conference, a panel defined resilience for the journalism profession to include “continuing to tell the truth” and challenging lies— and also to continue asking vulnerable questions in rooms full of experts and anti-press politicians. “From safety to censorship to authoritarian pressures, the global assault on press freedom, the message was consistent,” said Djordje Padejski, associate director of the John S. Knight journalism fellowship program at Stanford University. “If we want journalism to survive and matter, we need more creativity, more innovation, and a serious injection of energy — adrenaline for change.”
Martignetti, in a recent article for Fast Company, said all of us—and elected politicians, business leaders and others—“need to choose courage in the face of subtle resistance, fear or inertia” and “make the decision to act with integrity and openness, even when it would be easier to stay silent or conform.”
“Courage is contagious”
In my own work as a leadership advisor, media professor and editorial consultant, what is now being called “micro-bravery” has, for a while, been a component of change management, the kind focused on creating successful, intergenerational work cultures.
For a legacy news media brand I worked with recently, the chief executive was being challenged by what a group of young team members called “group-think”—old ways of defining the news and what gets covered—and how. But rather than shut down the conversation, the executive acknowledged his mistaken support for the status quo, and used his younger employees’ input, over time, to promote those brave enough to speak up and suggest new forms of coverage to co-lead the creation of new formats and focus areas. The result? A more courageous and effective culture—riskier but built more courageously and transparently, with intention.
In today’s rapidly changing workplace cultures, political turbulence and AI disruption, “the need for more agile cultures has never been greater,” Martignetti says. “Micro-bravery is the emotional infrastructure for innovation.”
Zolli agrees. “We’re definitely in one of the world’s going haywire moments, in which all of our foundational assumptions about institutional stability, climatological stability, the stability of nations, and all of those things are going haywire, moving with incredible speed and volatility and disruption.”
Looking Inside Out
“…Resilience is not just an adjective,” Zolli told us. “It’s also really a verb.. it’s really a series of verbs. When people say, how can I be more resilient? How can people become resilient? A better question might be, how do we do resilience? …Our curiosity and listening to each other and the world is a sure way to enact it.”
Zolli said that we now have, in Donald Trump, a leader who builds walls. There’s a temptation among some leaders to “look inward instead of outward because they want to create a zone of safety around themselves. …But that is not being curious about the world around them, near or far…and resilience is about looking out at the world to better map and manage our interdependencies.”
Leadership is also critical to pushing through uncertainties and rewarding curiosity, Martignetti writes. “The moments that shape culture need to be intentional”— and we need to be more comfortable with risk now, amid the turbulence. “It’s about if you’re willing to start with the next conversation, the next decision and the next choices that have been previously avoided, so that over time, small acts of courage—of speaking up and challenging assumptions— don’t just change conversations. They shrink our perceptions of fear and expand our curiosity and perceptions of what’s possible.”
Being intentional about speaking up, questioning the status quo, asking tough questions of leaders and leading with vulnerability matters. It’s a way forward that can be advanced in small steps, and over time can make us all more collaborative, less fearful, better seen and heard and resilient—come what may.
And more courageous, in spirit and action—starting now.
Have a comment to share? Please do, here. As always, we love to read and hear your input and reflections—and in these times of turbulence, especially, your thoughts on resilience, and what it means to you.
Hi Marcia, thank you for the morning "read". I feel as if I have just read the "toolkit" dealing with an often negative and challenging news cycle. I love the idea of resilience because it encapsulates the idea of elasticity and adaptability. The ability to weather turbulence, deal with threats and bring about positive or innovative change without the sense of being overwhelmed. Courage is truly contagious, and as we see day on day there are numerous acts of micro bravery challenging the rather reactive and chaotic forces around us that are formenting change. From Rule of Law, journalistic integrity, public accountability, civic duties, "the braver spaces" do appear to be emerging, active sparkles of light that are positive contagions . These are micro bravery actions to be built upon.