Ecosystemic resilience is dynamic and adaptive, Relational capital links innovation ecosystems, Shared vision and trust accelerate innovation and Orchestrate relational capital and shared vision to create the future you want to live in.

We are interconnected in this networked world. The global war on COVID-19 illustrates this. Widespread protests against unjust police behavior illustrate this. Research collaborations in the International Space Station reflect this. Our networks are physical – they connect under the sea through fiber and above the atmosphere with microwaves; our networks are virtual – through people, media and expectations.

Adaptive systems include both positive and negative feedback linkages and reflexive cycles; they use dispersed patterns of coordination to self-organize, self-regulate and self-govern. An ecosystemic mindset provides foresight in anticipating change and resilience in response to disruption. Two case studies – with practical implications – and two rules of thumb.

 

Martha Russell is Executive Director of mediaX at Stanford University and Senior Research Scholar with the Human Sciences Technology Advanced Research Institute at Stanford. With people and technology as the intersecting vectors, Russell’s background spans a range of business development, innovation and technology-transfer initiatives in information sciences, agriculture, communications, and microelectronics – for businesses, universities and regional development organizations. With a focus on the power of shared vision, Russell has developed planning/evaluation systems and consulted regionally and internationally on interdisciplinary initiatives and technology innovation.