xChange: How can we prepare for the worst while aiming for the best?

In our June 16th xChange hosts Paul Skinner and Arpita Dutt explored how we can build resilience through business, government and civil society by addressing our underlying risks and vulnerabilities with our panellists Rebecca Henderson, Harvard economist and author of Reimagining Capitalism, Sir Oliver Letwin, former minister with responsibility for the UK’s resilience and author of Apocalypse How?, and Rita Chadha, CEO of the Small Charities Coalition.

You can watch the full replay of the xChange and read some of the key insights below.

​Key insights included

• The business case for decarbonisation is strong and we put the whole economy at risk if we don't transform capitalism. But it's a collective business case, so we have to look to change the relationships between business and government and business and institutions.

• A key challenge is that businesses and governments are reluctant to keep the redundant capacity in their systems that will make them more resilient.

• For governments to be effective they need an external body, like the UK's climate change committee, to push them to prepare better for the unexpected high impact events.

• Before Covid the US was ranked first and the UK was ranked second in terms of preparedness for a pandemic, which demonstrates the wide gap there was in true preparation.

• We never know what's next, so we should create flexible systems that allow us to make do and mend.

• Small charities are often highly adaptable and can pivot quickly around the needs of their communities.

• Underlying inequalities impact the ways organisations and societies react to and withstand crises.

• The biggest issue in the charity sector over the last few months hasn't been about funding, but about staff and volunteer burnout. If we lose our people we'll lose our ability to help to create the needed changes in society.

• We need to find a new way to reward long term value creation rather than purely annual revenue.

• There needs to be intergenerational accounting and a move from 'me now thinking to us later thinking'.

Many thanks to Louise McLaren and Claire Kennedy for your posts on the key takeaways. And thanks to 23D for your help with the video production.