Preparing to be unprepared: Training for resilience

Training methods for operators working under high pressure and in dynamic, unpredictable settings could benefit from a focus on resilience. In such settings, formal training often focuses on procedural conformity to train for particular scenarios, but resilient performance taps into a wider experience base and often more tacit skills. In this paper, we formulate a research agenda to develop useful theoretical insights about training for resilience. Our discussion follows recent developments on organizational routines, which suggest that sources of inertia and conformity, such as strict procedural training, can also enable operators’ resourcefulness. Drawing from our diverse research experiences, we discuss the training needs for 1) developing or attenuating techniques for flexible procedural use, grounded in a rich qualitative understanding of practical experience; 2) the possibility to train skills that are more broadly applicable than specific training scenarios through simulation training methods; and 3) the development of training programs based on knowledge of “work-as-done” through Agent Based Modelling and Simulation methodologies and behavioral theories.