The viability and sustainability approach to support organisational resilience: Learning in a recent case study in the health sector

In the context of ongoing global pandemics and political and economic instability, supporting public health organisations to improve their performance and develop their resilience is becoming a central issue in the organisational resilience research agenda. This paper offers a briefing on the viability and sustainability (v&s) approach and provides an example of application of the self-transformation methodology (STM) at the breast care unit in an English Health Trust. The way of conducting the systemic application, the chosen methodology and tools and the way of interacting with the clients all exhibit the aspects of holistic flexibility. The paper demonstrates how the v&s approach and the STM enabled the collective identification of more effective policies and strategies for improving individual and organisational effectiveness for this health service unit, when interacting with a complex and changing environment. It also discusses the potential for adapting and replicating the approach across the healthcare sector.