ABSTRACT
Resilience describes the characteristic of managing the organisation's activities to anticipate and circumvent threats to its existence and primary goals. This is shown in particular in an ability to manage severe pressures and conflicts between safety and the primary production or of the organisation. Reverting to Rasmussen's model, resilience is the ability to steer the activities of the organisation so that it may sail close to the area where accidents will happen, but always stays out of that dangerous area. This implies a very sensitive awareness of where the organisation is in relation to that danger area and a very rapid and an effective response when signals of approaching or actual danger are detected. The picture this conjures up is of a medieval ship with wakeful lookouts, taking constant soundings as it sails in the unknown and misty waters of the far north or west, terrible beasts or the possibility of falling off the edge of the flat earth.
