Navigating Uncertainty – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1151

Navigating Uncertainty – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1151

Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1151 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here.

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Preamble

This blog post takes insights from a recent McKinsey article. Link at the end.

In today’s rapidly shifting world, disruption is no longer a rare event; it is the norm. A recent McKinsey study revealed that 84% of business leaders feel underprepared for future disruptions, with geopolitical shifts standing out as a key concern.

Geopolitical changes affect all organizations in all countries, not just global companies in developed countries. For example, a Pakistani company doing business only in Pakistan is not immune to global changes as it affects supply chains, exchange rates, local currency value, prices of goods made locally with imported materials, production equipment, and so on. Every organization, therefore, needs to learn to navigate uncertainty and unpredictability.

How do organizations not just survive, but thrive, in such an environment? McKinsey’s approach emphasizes intentionally building resilience across four critical dimensions, enabling leaders to turn uncertainty from a liability into a strategic advantage.

Lay the Foundation: The Four Dimensions of Resilience

Financial Resilience

Financial foundations matter most when instability hits. Companies must balance near-term liquidity with longer-term capital preservation to weather sharp revenue dips or sudden economic shocks. It also means that the capital from core business must not be siphoned off to do unproductive things.

Operational Resilience

Resilient organizations maintain robust operations even under duress. Flexible supply chains, backup production plans, and streamlined processes help ensure continuity when part of the system falters. Properly written policies and procedures are a great support.

Organizational Resilience

More than processes, this centers on people. Teams need psychological safety, trust, and autonomy to act when information is incomplete, but action is required. Embedding adaptability into culture is just as important as structures and policies. Emotional Intelligence is applicable more in these times. 

External Resilience

No organization operates in isolation. Leaders must consider the broader ecosystem; regulatory shifts, geopolitical tensions, industrial policy changes, and build agility into strategies that allow rapid pivoting. Inward focus and sticking to old ways is counterproductive.

From Theory to Action: Building Resilience Today

Move Beyond Cost-Cutting

In volatile times, slashing budgets is instinctive. McKinsey argues that business building creating new ventures and model is a smarter long-term hedge. Companies engaged in new growth efforts showed better resilience during the pandemic.

Embrace the CEO as Chief Resilience Officer

Leadership must champion resilience; allocating resources, breaking silos, and embedding agility across strategy and culture. Boards, too, must align with this mindset.

Enable Adaptive, Empowered Teams

Frontline teams must be trusted to act, problem-solve, and innovate. That requires decentralized decision-making, robust psychological safety, and environments that encourage creativity under uncertainty.

Instill Continuous Learning and Adaptability

Surveys show only 16% of organizations invest in adaptability and learning, despite high demand. Leaders should bake learning into how teams operate to soften disruption’s blow.

Personal Resilience: Leading From Within

Resilient leadership starts within. Here are research-backed habits that make leaders steady in unstable times:

Mindfulness & Emotional Agility: Practices like journaling, micro-breaks, and gratitude shifts focus from anxiety to presence.

Anchor in Purpose and Values: A clear “North Star” guides decisions even when context shifts. Purpose offers continuity amid chaos.

Routine and Well-being: Regular sleep, exercise, and rituals like morning routines help ground leaders emotionally and mentally.

Reframe Setbacks: Resilient leaders don’t blame; they reflect, learn, and pivot. Even failures become steppingstones.

Build Your Support Ecosystem: Trusted peers, mentors, and advisors reduce isolation and reinforce mental toughness.

Culture and Team Resilience

A resilient organization is more than resilient individuals. It is built on:

Psychological Safety: Teams must feel safe to surface issues and propose solutions without fear.

Learning-orientation: Failures become fuel for improvement, not grounds for blame.

Collective Efficacy: Teams that believe in their ability to navigate crises perform better under pressure.

Organizational Structures That Support Adaptability: Bureaucracy and rigid hierarchy slow down responsiveness. Resilience-friendly structures are agile and devolved.

Why This Matters Now More Than Ever

Geopolitical shocks, climate disruption, supply-chain instability, rapid tech shifts: the pace and scale of change today dwarfs anything in recent corporate memory. McKinsey’s findings highlight real workforce unease because leaders don’t feel ready. Yet organizations that invest in resilience find strength, not just survival, in turbulence.

Management Playbook for Resilience

Foundation & Actions

Strategic Planning – Future-scenario mapping, financial buffers, diversified portfolios

Operational Agility – Supply redundancy, cross-training, rapid decision triggers

Leadership & Culture – Clear purpose, strong communication, safe-to-fail teams

People Resilience – Learning culture, emotional support, well-being programs

New Business Ventures – incubation of new growth areas as resilience engines

Sum Up

Resilience is not a hide-and-watch strategy; it’s a proactive, multifaceted approach that builds strength from within and around you. The four dimensions, financial, operational, organizational, external, form the scaffold. Against this, leadership presence, emotional well-being, team culture, and forward-looking innovation form the heartbeat.

As disruption becomes the backdrop of modern business, the goal isn't just reacting; it is thriving. Leaders, teams, and organizations that build resilience together don’t just withstand change—they convert it into opportunity.

Concluded.

Disclaimers: Pictures in these blogs are taken from free resources at Pexels, Pixabay, Unsplash, and Google. Credit is given where available. If a copyright claim is lodged, we shall remove the picture with appropriate regrets.

For most blogs, I research from several sources which are open to public. Their links are mentioned under references. There is no intent to infringe upon anyone’s copyrights. If, any claim is lodged, it will be acknowledged and recognized duly.

Reference:

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-guide-to-navigating-the-new-world-of-work/how-to-remain-resilient-focused-and-effective-in-uncertain-times?cid=mgp_opr-eml-alt-pub-mgp-glb--bundle&hlkid=e688c345415b477789a67ab02feb4499&hctky=15999472&hdpid=26b70156-aacc-4f9d-b833-75bbb3a101f0