Resilience begins where control ends
We have become very good at organising and optimising our world. We build systems, set rules and establish processes to gain as much control as possible over what happens around us. But what if reality no longer conforms to our systems? What if changes occur faster than we can predict them? According to Philip Vergauwen, Dean of Lifelong Learning at Maastricht University, resilience begins precisely there: at the point where control is no longer enough. “When control no longer works, you have to reinvent yourself a little.”
From optimisation to exploration
For Vergauwen, resilience lies in the tension between what he calls exploitation and exploration. Exploitation is about making what you already know work as effectively as possible. You have a system, process or model and try to make it function as efficiently as possible. Exploration, by contrast, begins precisely where you do not yet know what the outcome will be.
This distinction becomes important when changes occur faster or more unexpectedly than anticipated. A system may be able to withstand a single shock perfectly well. But when shocks keep following one another, the model itself may come into question.
“Resilience is all about everything you need and everything you can do when you are out of control,” says Vergauwen. In his view, resilience is therefore not simply the ability to keep an existing system upright. It is about being able to look again: what still works, what no longer works, and how can we adapt to a reality that is different from what we had anticipated?
“Resistance is a strong element of positive resilience, but when resistance takes over, resilience declines.”
Resistance ≠ resilience
Vergauwen makes an important distinction between resistance and resilience. According to him, the two are often confused.
“Resistance is a strong element of positive resilience,” Vergauwen begins. When something happens that you absolutely do not want, that resistance can prompt you to take action. “But when resistance takes over, resilience declines,” Vergauwen continues. “Resilience is: there is something forcing me to change, whether I want to or not, but I will engage with that change.”
This does not mean that resilient people simply accept everything. Quite the opposite. Setting boundaries, being critical and pushing back can all be very important. The difference lies in what happens afterwards.
If you think only, I don’t want this, your agenda will ultimately be determined by the change you are resisting. Someone who is resilient asks a different question: This is happening, whether I want it or not. How can I still make something of it?
According to Vergauwen, this is relevant to virtually every major change we are facing today. “Artificial intelligence, geopolitical uncertainty – whether you want it or not, these things will be there.” The challenge, therefore, is not simply to protect ourselves from change, but also to reinvent ourselves when circumstances demand it.
A resilient society can accommodate differences
This idea extends beyond organisations and geopolitics. At both an individual and societal level, Vergauwen believes resilience requires a different attitude towards change, difference and adversity. Resilience also means, for example, being able to accept that things do not always go the way you want them to. “That doesn’t mean you have to agree with a decision,” Vergauwen stresses. It does mean recognising that you are part of a larger system in which other interests and perspectives also exist.
He believes this applies, for example, within a democracy. Citizens must have the opportunity to object, appeal and critically question decisions. But if everyone continues to challenge every decision until they get their own way, the system itself ultimately comes under pressure. “Resilience also means accepting that there are things that will not be the way you really, truly want them to be,” he says.
This also includes the ability to disagree with one another. Not every conflict has to be resolved by reaching agreement. “Where that isn’t possible, shouldn’t we perhaps learn to disagree with each other in a better way?” Vergauwen asks himself. Sometimes different viewpoints are simply part of a healthy society.
According to Vergauwen, science is a good example of this. Scientific knowledge does not emerge because everyone shares the same opinion, but because ideas are critically questioned, investigated and debated. A resilient attitude therefore does not mean distrusting everything that comes your way, but neither does it mean accepting everything at face value: “I don’t immediately take things to be true, but neither do I shut myself off from them simply because I disagree.”
What does this mean for a university?
If resilience is about critical thinking, dealing with uncertainty and the ability to reinvent yourself, Vergauwen believes this also has implications for education.
A university degree should not only prepare students for the problems we know about today. It should also teach them how to deal with questions for which there is not yet an answer. That is why he advocates creating more room for exploration, critical reflection and multidisciplinary thinking. For example, he sees opportunities for a shared foundation in which students from different disciplines consider major societal questions together. Philosophy, sociology, science and other disciplines could come together in this way.
The reason is simple: the major challenges of our time are increasingly difficult to contain within a single field of study.
Take artificial intelligence. It is not merely a technological issue. It also involves privacy, law, social media, responsibility, the economy and the way people interact with technology. “Is a major problem always a one-dimensional, one-discipline problem? I am convinced that it isn’t.”
Precisely when the world is changing, it becomes important to be able to look at a problem from different perspectives. Not to find one perfect answer, but to be prepared for questions that we may not even know are coming our way today.
“A university without a Lifelong Development offering cannot truly contribute fully to lasting resilience.”
Resilience also starts with yourself
This applies not only to the way universities organise their education. Students and professionals also have a responsibility of their own, according to Vergauwen. He warns, for example, against an environment in which people are increasingly relieved of responsibility. A well-organised system can make studying and working easier, but there is a risk that people become dependent on that system. “A student who doesn’t know where a lecture is taking place can easily ask a member of staff. But if all the information is already available in the university’s systems, it is also the student’s responsibility to find that information for themselves,” Vergauwen says by way of example.
“Resilience is about independence, not dependence.”
According to Vergauwen, this does not mean that everything should be made more difficult in order to supposedly make people more resilient. Quite the opposite. Anything that is not essential to learning can and should be organised as simply as possible. But removing unnecessary obstacles should not mean that people also hand over responsibility for their own actions.
True resilience does not emerge because someone is constantly there to solve problems for you. It emerges when you learn to deal with situations in which the answer is not immediately available.
Continuing to learn in a changing world
This ultimately brings us to one of the most important conditions for individual resilience: continuing to learn.
Whatever education someone has had and however much experience they have gained, the world continues to change. New technologies emerge, social relationships shift, and existing knowledge is expanded or called into question.
According to Vergauwen, this requires an attitude of lifelong learning. “The classroom is not the only place where you can learn,” he emphasises. Lifelong learning does not mean that everyone has to keep taking new university courses. It begins with a willingness to acquire new knowledge, update your skills and reconsider your existing ideas. It may involve further training, retraining or developing a deeper understanding of developments that are becoming relevant to your work or everyday life.
This is precisely where Vergauwen sees an important role for universities. “A university without a Lifelong Learning offering cannot truly contribute fully to lasting resilience.” Knowledge alone does not make someone resilient. It is also about what you do with that knowledge: how you assess new information, how you respond when your existing beliefs are challenged, and how you use that knowledge to find new solutions.
Resilience is the ability to remain relevant
A changing world therefore requires more than stronger systems. It requires people and organisations that can recognise when those systems are no longer sufficient.
Resilience does not mean that you have to welcome every change. Nor does it mean that you should never resist. It means that when reality changes, you do not remain stuck asking how you can return it to the way it used to be.
It means remaining critical, continuing to learn, being able to accommodate different perspectives and maintaining a willingness to reinvent yourself.
Or, as Vergauwen puts it: “Resilience is necessary to remain relevant.”
