The World Beyond Resilience

Do you subscribe to the "no pain, no gain" mantra?  In this podcast episode, Angela and Carolyn take a thoughtful look at what it is costing us, and offer a crucial mindset shift: from struggle to effort. It’s all about finding joy and effectiveness in what you do, rather than constantly battling uphill.

The key takeaway Angela and Carolyn emphasise is to question where you're struggling versus where you're putting in effort that uplifts you. If you're constantly fighting, it's a cue to re-evaluate your circumstances or your approach. Don't be afraid to ask: "Am I in the right place?" and "What validation am I really seeking?" Embracing regenerative effort means finding ways to thrive, collaborate, and experience joy, rather than sacrificing yourself. It's about making conscious choices that lead to a more fun, creative, and fulfilling way of being.

This conversation is equal parts inspiring and incendiary for any midlife woman who's ever felt underestimated. Duckworth, the co-founder of Visible Inc., isn't just discussing resilience; she's igniting a movement to celebrate the seismic power of midlife women.

Introducing Jacquie Duckworth

With 30 years of experience in mainstream consumer media, working with iconic brands, Jacquie is a powerhouse of expertise. In 2019, she joined forces with Jane Evans to co-found Visible Inc., and together they’re on a mission to unleash the untapped potential of midlife women, challenge outdated perceptions, and create a world where their wisdom and experience are celebrated. 

This podcast explodes the myth that women over 45 are past their prime. Duckworth shines a spotlight on their untapped superpowers:  invaluable experience, resilience, and sheer brilliance, proving they're a force to be reckoned with in any industry.  By shattering the ageism glass ceiling: Duckworth exposes how midlife women are often unfairly pushed out of the workplace. She's not just calling for change; she's providing concrete solutions to dismantle these discriminatory practices.

Duckworth notes three key points for women moving beyond resilience:

• Embracing Our Worth: Duckworth instils in women a new resilience not just as bouncing back, but as an "enveloping cloak of reassurance" and an inner superpower that women can wield to overcome any challenge. 
• Creativity as a Driving Force: women’s innate ability to innovate, adapt, and find solutions where others see only obstacles makes them indispensable in the workplace and beyond.  
• Collaboration as the key to female power:  the importance of community, shared wisdom, and lifting each other to achieve collective success. 

You’ll have your perceptions challenged and your spirit lifted as we delve into ageism, the magic of female collaboration, and the unstoppable force that's unleashed when women truly recognize their worth. Ready? This is; a call to rise, roar, and rewrite the rules!

References

• Jacquie Duckworth https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquie-duckworth-5a487b9/
• Song: Tubthumping by Chumbawamba
• Visible Inc.: An agency co-founded by Jacquie Duckworth and Jane Evans with a mission to unleash the power of midlife women.  
• Visible Start: Visible Inc.'s returners program, designed to support women in re-entering the workforce.  
• Visible Society: An online platform and community for midlife women to connect, communicate, and support each other.  

WPP: The world's largest advertising agency network, and exclusive sponsor of the Visible Start program.

This chat dives into the fascinating world of resilience and anti-fragility, particularly through the lens of Nassim Nicholas Taleb's work.

We unravel how we define fragility, robustness, resilience, and anti-fragility, before giving a more expansive view of thriving beyond just "bouncing back."

We start first with a fragile teacup (it breaks, you can't fix it). You don't want to be that.

Then there's the robust metal teacup (it can take a beating but still dents). Ok - survival. Inevitable from time to time. But not what you'd call thriving over the long term

Resilience is like a polymer — it gets stretched but returns to its original shape. Not desirable either over the long time. There's no evolution.

The real star is anti-fragility, exemplified by... muscles!

Muscles get stressed, tear a little, and then grow back stronger! You develop new and renewed capacities under pressure, as long as it's the right amount of stress (no bench-pressing 500 kilos until you've worked up to it, right!!).

From there we move to "beyond resilience," which integrates these concepts and emphasizes our inherent creativity and optionality, like a river flowing around, through and over obstacles.

True growth isn't guaranteed by simply rebounding, overcoming or recovering from adversity; it's about using when you use adversity to become stronger and more capable. You are a creative, dynamic, evolving system that is beyond resilient.

• Nassim Nicholas Taleb is the author of several books, including The Black Swan and Anti-Fragile.

Get ready to be inspired by a truly remarkable woman! This episode of the World Beyond Resilience features Joanna Kerr, a dynamic force for social and environmental change. With an extraordinary 25-year career leading organizations like Greenpeace Canada and ActionAid International, and now launching NutHatch Leadership to mentor future change-makers, Joanna brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective on what it truly means to be beyond resilient.

• Joanna shares how her childhood in Tanzania shaped her views on community and interdependence, challenging the often rigid, mechanistic view of organizations.
• She advocates for a "living systems" approach, where leadership is akin to nurturing a garden, focusing on interconnectedness and fostering growth.
• The conversation also sensitively touches upon navigating trauma, underscoring that our capacity to heal and transform is central to building true resilience, and highlights the vital role of community over material possessions for genuine security.

Ultimately, this podcast powerfully reinforces that community is our lifeline and that going beyond resilience comes from interconnectedness, not coping alone.

By embracing vulnerability and fostering deep connections, we can move beyond outdated individualistic notions to collectively thrive.

Joanna shows us how!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanna-kerr-bb011b71/

You're in for a treat with this episode of the World Beyond Resilience Podcast! Today Angela and Carolyn dive deep into a topic many of us grapple with: the shift from fierce independence to joyful, supportive and deeply relaxing interdependence.

If you've ever felt the crushing weight of trying to "do it all yourself" and worn it as a badge of honor, this podcast is a warm, relatable invitation to explore a different, more sustainable, even regenerative, path.

We show you how the ingrained narrative of self-reliance, while seemingly strong, can lead to isolation and burnout.

Carolyn shares a compelling personal story of finally realizing she couldn't manage everything alone, leading her family to step up and share the load. This wasn't a sign of weakness, but a catalyst for deeper connection, shared responsibility, and surprising new skills (like her sons becoming great chefs!).

We emphasise that this isn't about giving up all independence, but making it a conscious choice rather than a default burden.

The key takeaway is that true resilience and thriving come from interconnectedness and interdependence.

Asking for help isn't a burden; it's an opportunity for others to contribute, develop their own strengths, and experience the joy of supporting you.

We show you how shared effort not only lightens your load but fosters creativity, collaboration, and deeper, more meaningful relationships, ultimately moving you from just surviving to truly flourishing.

Give it a listen – your future self will thank you for letting others in!

Laura Sullivan is a firestarter in the best possible way – sparking conversations, igniting change, and refusing to settle for the way things have always been. A seasoned leader in the NGO world, she’s cut her teeth at organisations pioneering change like ActionAid and We Move Europe, bringing courage and clarity to every space she enters.

Laura doesn’t just talk about change – she lives it. Whether she’s moderating climate justice panels in Brazil, facilitating dialogue in Brussels, or weaving together Indigenous wisdom and European policy, Laura’s mission is clear: dismantle the tired old systems that keep power locked in the hands of the few, and build something bolder, fairer, and more human.

She shows how coming together, connecting with our neighbors, and standing in fierce solidarity are the rocket fuel we need to launch ourselves into a future where we all rise together

So, what's the big takeaway? Resilience is about passively waiting it out and dealing with things the best we can. Beyond resilience is about actively reshaping our entire world. We've got the incredible power to dream up and then build completely new systems, not just tweak the old ones

References

• Plum Village: A sanctuary of Buddhist activism, for cultivating resilience through meditation and community.  https://plumvillage.org/
• J Game: Laura's daily resilience ritual: Journaling, Gratitude, Act of Kindness, Meditation, Exercise.  
• Fearless Cities: A global movement where cities are daring to confront fear and build radically inclusive urban spaces.  
• Emergence Strategy: A mind-blowing book that provides a blueprint for adaptive vision and turning dreams into reality.  
• ActionAid: The NGO where Sullivan honed her skills in community-led development and became a champion for grassroots power.  
• Reflective circles: A transformative approach inspired by Paulo Freire, designed to ignite community empowerment and political consciousness

Laura can be reached on LinkedIn

Angela Philp and Carolyn Gibson totally get us excited about shifting from just assuming things to being genuinely curious. They dive into how we humans naturally pick up biases, which inevitably shrink our world, keep us stuck and definitely keep us from truly seeing others (and ourselves!)

But guess what? By getting curious enough to challenge those old mindsets – from what you're capable of or good at to the big global challenges like poverty – we open up a whole universe of fresh possibilities and find way better solutions.

We passionately advocate for curiosity. Developing the habit of asking new questions and embracing that "magical" feeling of discovering totally new perspectives, to open up everything - starting from the inside out

Get out there and practice curiosity! Seriously, it's a game-changer. When you start asking different questions, it's like a secret key that unlocks new actions and creates brand new realities for you, your relationships, and even your organisations.

Curiosity will change your life!

Keetie Roelen is a globally recognized expert on poverty, particularly focusing on the lived experience of those in poverty. As the founder and host of the "Poverty Unpacked" platform, Keetie offers crucial perspectives on resilience, empowerment, and the systemic factors that influence poverty.

Keetie challenges the common definition of resilience, especially when applied to poverty, arguing that it's more than just "bouncing back" and must include a sense of security beyond just income. 

She highlights how focusing solely on individual resilience can overshadow critical systemic issues like lack of employment and insufficient welfare. Her insights shed light on the substantial cognitive load faced by people in poverty – a frequently overlooked form of resilience – and she advocates for empowerment as a pathway for individuals to actively choose their own destinies and enhance their well-being, moving beyond restrictive scarcity narratives.

The key takeaways from her work emphasize that true resilience is not an isolated individual effort but is deeply rooted in community and social support. 

Moving beyond merely surviving adversity requires empowerment coupled with the freedom to choose. 

Keetie emphasises that addressing poverty necessitates a shift from individual blame to actively tackling systemic inequalities. Ultimately, cultivating empathy, moving past judgmental attitudes, and dismantling harmful narratives such as "no pain, no gain" are crucial steps toward building a more supportive, equitable, and humane society.

In this World Beyond Resilience Podcast, Angela and Carolyn dive into the subtle but powerful difference between resignation to acceptance. The shift we need to make to transform not only how you deal with life's curveballs, but how you amplify and grow anything that's already working!

You'll find out how resignation masquerades as acceptance and how to distinguish the difference between the two to give you more freedom and choice.

If you're resigned, you'll always have a sense of "gritting your teeth" and pushing, defensively holding on to "that's just the way it is," or 'you're right and they're wrong' black and white ideas.

True acceptance is about bravely facing the whole truth of a situation, holding more of the complexity, processing emotions, and then freely moving forward.

Holding onto resentment or frustration - other telltale signs you're resigned - is "poisonous" and blocks creativity.

Acceptance will give you a moment of grace, like a flowing river, opening to fresh new possibility.

You'll also find out that accepting your limits isn't giving up; it's simply a process of identifying them so you can choose how to grow beyond them.

The biggest takeaway?

Don't confuse "I'll just have to accept it" with genuine acceptance!

True acceptance is a moment-by-moment practice of being with reality as it is, not as you think it should be or ideally wish it to be.

It's about letting go of control and allowing yourself to feel emotions like powerlessness without judgment.

This shift alone can unblock situations, improve interactions with others, and unleash your creative potential.

So next time you're facing a challenge, ask yourself: Am I resigning, or am I truly accepting?

A deeply moving and illuminating conversation with Josianne Gauthier, a human rights lawyer and Secretary General of CIDSE, who invites us to explore the profound connection between grief, resilience, and finding light in the darkest of times.

Gauthier redefines resilience as a profound journey through grief, where acknowledging and processing pain becomes an "alchemy" for growth and transformation. She emphasizes that true strength comes from acceptance, embracing vulnerability, and recognizing our limitations, allowing us to regenerate and emerge from challenges fundamentally changed, with new wisdom and purpose.

At the core of her message is the idea of cultivating an inner "light"—a metaphor for hope and the human spirit's enduring power—and sharing it to create a ripple effect of positivity, giving us the capacity to strengthen our own resilience and foster meaningful connections within our communities.

Key Takeaways

• Grief is not an obstacle to overcome, but a powerful catalyst for growth and transformation.
• Acceptance, vulnerability, and humility are essential components of true resilience.
• We emerge from challenges not as the same, but as stronger, wiser, and more compassionate individuals.
• Cultivating our inner light and sharing it with others is a powerful way to create hope and connection.
• Embracing interdependence and reciprocity strengthens our resilience and enriches our lives.

References

• CIDSE: The international family of Catholic social justice organizations where Gauthier serves as Secretary General.  (www.cidse.org)
• Laudato Si: An encyclical letter by Pope Francis on integral ecology, which Josianne recommends for its wisdom and message of caring for our common home.  
• Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer: A book that contains the sentence "Life attracts life" which resonated deeply with Josianne