New Column: Resilience — True Strength Is Not About Preventing Problems

Next week, I will be serving as one of the Masters of Ceremonies at the Sophia University Alumni Association Convention in France, together with a local alumnus. The theme of this year's convention is Resilience.

To be honest, I had never taken the time to fully understand what this word really meant. It is commonly translated as the ability to recover or bounce back from adversity.

However, the more I reflected on its meaning, the more I came to believe that resilience is about much more than simply returning to where we were before. It is the ability to overcome challenges, learn from the experience, and grow stronger for the future.

As I thought about it, I realized that this is exactly the kind of strength that project management demands.

Unexpected Events Are Inevitable in Projects

Many things can happen during a project.

Schedules slip. Critical information is not shared. Messages we believe we have communicated never truly reach the other person. People use the same words while imagining completely different things.

Sometimes these become major incidents. Other times they remain "close calls" that could easily have developed into serious problems.

This is especially true in global projects. Team members bring different languages, cultures, business practices, organizational structures, roles, experiences, and even different assumptions about what is considered "normal" at work. Yet they all work toward a single goal.

No matter how talented the team or how carefully the project is planned, it is virtually impossible to eliminate every misunderstanding or gap in perception.

Of course, as project managers, we do everything we can to prevent such issues before they occur.

However, if we define a project's strength solely by its ability to avoid problems, we place unrealistic expectations on both the project and the people involved.

As long as people work together, unexpected events are inevitable.

That is why what truly matters is not the problem itself, but what happens after it occurs.

Don't Start with "Who's to Blame?"

When something goes wrong, our first instinct is often to look for the cause.

"I explained it clearly."

"Nobody told me about that."

"The client took too long to confirm."

"That department never made the decision."

Over the years, we have seen conversations like these unfold countless times in project environments.

Understanding what caused a problem is important. That does not mean accountability should be ignored.

But identifying the cause of a problem is very different from blaming someone for it.

The moment a team shifts its focus to protecting itself, invisible walls begin to rise between people and organizations.

By contrast, truly resilient teams ask a different question:

"What happened—and what should we do next?"

That mindset makes all the difference.

At PM Global, we place great importance on the idea of One Team.

It is easy to talk about being "One Team" when everything is going well.

The real test comes when problems arise.

Can clients, consultants, system vendors, overseas offices, and everyone else involved move beyond their individual positions and look at the problem from the same side?

I believe that is where a team's resilience truly reveals itself.

Go Back to the Purpose, Not the Plan

Another essential aspect of resilience in project management is the ability to adapt to change.

When a project begins to drift away from its original plan, it is easy to become consumed with trying to get everything back on track exactly as planned.

But projects do not exist simply to follow a plan.

They exist to achieve a business objective.

This is closely connected to one of PM Global's core values: Business First.

When the unexpected happens, we should pause and ask ourselves:

"What were we trying to achieve in the first place?"

Once we return to that purpose, we may need to change our approach. We may need to reorder our priorities. Sometimes, we may even need to let go of decisions we once believed were the right ones.

Resilience is not about forcing a project back onto its original path.

It is about moving forward once again—guided by the purpose we set out to achieve.

The Ability to Bridge Differences

There is another aspect of resilience that is especially important in global projects.

It is the ability to step back into the other person's perspective.

When miscommunication occurs, it is easy to think, "We're right," or "They just don't understand."

But when people come from different countries, cultures, organizations, or professional backgrounds, the very same situation can look completely different.

Instead of asking,

"Why don't they understand?"

try asking,

"Why did they see it that way?"

That simple shift in perspective can reopen conversations that seemed to have reached a dead end.

At PM Global, our Global Expertise is not simply about speaking English or having international business experience.

It is about recognizing that differences will always exist—and still being able to reconnect people, rebuild mutual understanding, and move forward together.

I believe that, too, is an essential part of resilience in global project management.

Not Just Recovering, but Coming Back Stronger

As I reflected on the meaning of resilience, this became the most important lesson for me.

When something goes wrong, is it enough simply to return to where we were before?

If we have gone through a difficult experience, shouldn't we use it to make the next project better?

"I should have spoken up sooner."

"I should have spoken to them directly instead of relying on email."

"I shouldn't have ignored that small sense of unease."

Each of these reflections shapes our next decision and helps make the next project stronger.

That is why there are three principles we try to keep in mind in every project.

1. Address issues early.

Don't ignore small concerns. Speak up while they are still only close calls, before they become major problems.

2. Focus on the problem, not the person.

Instead of asking who is to blame, ask what happened and what we can do to move forward.

3. Don't stop at recovery. Learn and grow from the experience.

Take what happened, apply the lessons, and make the next project—and the next team—even stronger.

Looking back, we have experienced our share of unexpected events and failures over the past twenty years.

Yet every time, we have worked together with our clients and colleagues to overcome them, rebuild, and move forward.

A strong team is not one that never encounters problems.

A strong team is one that faces problems together, learns from them, and emerges stronger than before—without turning against one another.

To me, that is what resilience truly means in project management.

And perhaps it is a quality that will become even more important—not only for projects, but for connecting people, organizations, and nations to create something new together.