Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Colleagues,
In line with Principle 11 of PMBOK, which focuses on adaptability and resilience, I’d love to hear about the landmark events in your careers that strengthened your resilience as project managers.
I recently came across the concept of an antifragile system—it’s intriguing because, unlike fragile systems that break under stress, antifragile systems actually become stronger when exposed to challenges, similar to how muscles grow stronger after they break down due to exercise (known as hypertrophy).
For me, dealing with challenging stakeholders has been one of those emblematic events. Each interaction taught me something new, helping me refine my approach and improve my handling of difficult situations over time. The next time I face a challenging stakeholder, I feel better prepared and more confident in navigating the interaction successfully.
Has anyone else had similar experiences that transformed challenges into opportunities for growth? I’m eager to hear your stories and insights on developing adaptability and resilience in our field.
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Francisco Herrera Excellent post and a powerful reminder of how Principle 11 of the PMBOK® Guide calls us to move beyond resilience into adaptability.
For me, resilience once meant bouncing back after pressure.
But over time, I realized that some challenges don’t just test us, they reshape our collective capacity.
That’s the difference between being resilient and being antifragile: resilience restores; antifragility transforms.
One of my landmark moments came during a high-stakes transformation project when stakeholder conflict forced not only me, but the entire team, to redesign how we communicated and made decisions.
What began as tension became a catalyst for a stronger, more transparent governance model, one that endured long after the project ended.
Since then, I’ve learned that every disruption, when reflected upon together, becomes data for growth, not damage to recover from.
That’s the true essence of antifragile project leadership: learning as a system, growing through pressure, and emerging wiser and more connected each time.
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
Oct 27, 2025 2:52 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Thanks Luis Branco for sharing this insightful post and powerful reminder and your comments from the post!
The main idea here is that Principle 11 of the PMBOK® Guide encourages us to move beyond resilience into adaptability. While resilience is about bouncing back from pressure, antifragility takes it a step further by using challenges to transform and strengthen our capacity.
Your experience with stakeholder conflict during a transformation project highlights the true essence of antifragile leadership: leveraging disruptions as catalysts for growth and learning as a system to become wiser and more connected.
Regards! Francisco
Saving Changes...
Abad RodríguezIngeniero Civil| Cemex MéxicoVeracruz, Mexico
Francisco Herrera font dir="auto" style="vertical-align: inherit;"font dir="auto" style="vertical-align: inherit;"Gracias por la reflexión me ha hecho recordar un poco del camino ejerciendo mi profesión. Como ingeniero civil he tenido diversos tipos de trabajos, afortunadamente cada uno de ellos y sus retos han sido maestros de resiliencia y adaptabilidad pues por circunstancias, quiza fortuitas, me encontré como el encargado de cerrar proyectos o diligencias que llevan tiempo abandonadas o no fueron planeadas adecuadamente dejando en malos términos a la empresa y los interesados. sumado a la urgencia temporal para dar soluciones. Lo anterior me llevó a romper, limitantes de comunicación y de conocimiento que considera un paso fundamental para lograr entender la resiliencia y una vez hecho llevarla al siguiente paso. Una mente que se ha expandido no regresa a su tamaño original. El camino de la resiliencia es tambien el camino de la mejora continua, es el camino que nos puede transformar en la vida personal y trabajar para ser siempre un poco mejor que el dia anterior. Quiero preguntar, ¿como hacer para transmitir este empoderamiento a nuestros equipos de trabajo? Espero que me puedan aconsejar Saludos/font/font/font/font
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
Oct 29, 2025 6:29 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Gracias por la aportación Abad! de seguro aquí encontraras varias respuestas a tus interrogantes!
Program Manager| HARPER SRLSanto Domingo / Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic
Great topic, Francisco. For me, one of those landmark moments came when a large transformation project completely shifted mid-execution, new leadership, new priorities, and a lot of uncertainty. At first, it felt like everything we built was collapsing, but learning to reframe that disruption as an opportunity to adapt changed how I led ever since.
It taught me that resilience isn’t about enduring pressure, it’s about adjusting your mindset faster than circumstances change. Every challenge since then feels a bit less daunting because of that experience.
...
1 reply by Francisco Herrera
Oct 30, 2025 7:49 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Lissette Indhira Pimentel Sosa true resilience lies in adapting our mindset quickly when facing change, rather than merely enduring pressure. Your landmark moment during a transformation project—where everything shifted under new leadership and priorities—highlights how reframing disruption as an opportunity fundamentally changed your approach to leadership. This adaptability has made subsequent challenges feel less daunting. Francisco.
Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Oct 23, 2025 1:07 PM
Replying to Luis Branco
...
Francisco Herrera Excellent post and a powerful reminder of how Principle 11 of the PMBOK® Guide calls us to move beyond resilience into adaptability.
For me, resilience once meant bouncing back after pressure.
But over time, I realized that some challenges don’t just test us, they reshape our collective capacity.
That’s the difference between being resilient and being antifragile: resilience restores; antifragility transforms.
One of my landmark moments came during a high-stakes transformation project when stakeholder conflict forced not only me, but the entire team, to redesign how we communicated and made decisions.
What began as tension became a catalyst for a stronger, more transparent governance model, one that endured long after the project ended.
Since then, I’ve learned that every disruption, when reflected upon together, becomes data for growth, not damage to recover from.
That’s the true essence of antifragile project leadership: learning as a system, growing through pressure, and emerging wiser and more connected each time.
Thanks Luis Branco for sharing this insightful post and powerful reminder and your comments from the post!
The main idea here is that Principle 11 of the PMBOK® Guide encourages us to move beyond resilience into adaptability. While resilience is about bouncing back from pressure, antifragility takes it a step further by using challenges to transform and strengthen our capacity.
Your experience with stakeholder conflict during a transformation project highlights the true essence of antifragile leadership: leveraging disruptions as catalysts for growth and learning as a system to become wiser and more connected.
Regards! Francisco
From my experience, one of the defining moments that strengthened my resilience was managing a project with shifting priorities and limited stakeholder alignment. Initially, it was frustrating, but it taught me to stay composed, focus on what I could control, and adapt quickly to change. Over time, I realized that flexibility and clear communication are key to turning uncertainty into progress. Each challenge since then has reinforced my confidence and adaptability as a project manager.
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
Nov 05, 2025 6:45 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Resilience is strengthened by learning to stay composed and adaptable in the face of shifting priorities and limited stakeholder alignment. By focusing on flexibility and clear communication, you turned uncertainty into progress, reinforcing your confidence and adaptability as a project manager. This experience has undoubtedly equipped you to handle future challenges with greater ease. Regards! Francisco.
Buenas tardes Francisco
Hace un par de días me enfrente a una situación muy complicada, cuando un proyecto se canceló después de semanas de trabajo arduo.
Y aunque confieso que si fue emocionalmente difícil, lo que me ayudo a superar dicho momento fue el consejo que un día recibí: “tranquila, esta fuera de tu área de control” por lo que me concentre en lo que si estaba dentro de mi control y fue como logramos solucionar la situación y adaptarnos a la situación actual.
Días después las cosas comenzaron a mejorar y vino a mi otra frase para complementarla: “Tranquila, esta fuera de tu área de control” y “No hay mal que por bien no venga” … ese será mi nuevo lema antes situaciones difíciles.
Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Oct 26, 2025 12:56 PM
Replying to Abad Rodríguez
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Francisco Herrera font dir="auto" style="vertical-align: inherit;"font dir="auto" style="vertical-align: inherit;"Gracias por la reflexión me ha hecho recordar un poco del camino ejerciendo mi profesión. Como ingeniero civil he tenido diversos tipos de trabajos, afortunadamente cada uno de ellos y sus retos han sido maestros de resiliencia y adaptabilidad pues por circunstancias, quiza fortuitas, me encontré como el encargado de cerrar proyectos o diligencias que llevan tiempo abandonadas o no fueron planeadas adecuadamente dejando en malos términos a la empresa y los interesados. sumado a la urgencia temporal para dar soluciones. Lo anterior me llevó a romper, limitantes de comunicación y de conocimiento que considera un paso fundamental para lograr entender la resiliencia y una vez hecho llevarla al siguiente paso. Una mente que se ha expandido no regresa a su tamaño original. El camino de la resiliencia es tambien el camino de la mejora continua, es el camino que nos puede transformar en la vida personal y trabajar para ser siempre un poco mejor que el dia anterior. Quiero preguntar, ¿como hacer para transmitir este empoderamiento a nuestros equipos de trabajo? Espero que me puedan aconsejar Saludos/font/font/font/font
Gracias por la aportación Abad! de seguro aquí encontraras varias respuestas a tus interrogantes! Saving Changes...
From my experience, I built resilience while managing a project that changed direction several times. At first, it was stressful, but I learned to stay calm, adjust plans quickly, and keep the team focused. Since then, I’ve handled changes more confidently and seen challenges as chances to grow.
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
Nov 17, 2025 4:01 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Resilience is built by staying calm, adjusting plans quickly, and keeping the team focused when facing project changes and uncertainty. Your experience shows that learning to reframe challenges as growth opportunities builds confidence and makes you more adept at handling future disruptions. Regards! Francisco
Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Oct 27, 2025 11:58 AM
Replying to Lissette Indhira Pimentel Sosa
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Great topic, Francisco. For me, one of those landmark moments came when a large transformation project completely shifted mid-execution, new leadership, new priorities, and a lot of uncertainty. At first, it felt like everything we built was collapsing, but learning to reframe that disruption as an opportunity to adapt changed how I led ever since.
It taught me that resilience isn’t about enduring pressure, it’s about adjusting your mindset faster than circumstances change. Every challenge since then feels a bit less daunting because of that experience.
Lissette Indhira Pimentel Sosa true resilience lies in adapting our mindset quickly when facing change, rather than merely enduring pressure. Your landmark moment during a transformation project—where everything shifted under new leadership and priorities—highlights how reframing disruption as an opportunity fundamentally changed your approach to leadership. This adaptability has made subsequent challenges feel less daunting. Francisco. Saving Changes...
Thanks, Francisco. I built resilience when my project faced sudden changes and tight deadlines. I stayed calm, supported my team, and focused on finding quick solutions. This helped me become more flexible and confident in handling pressure. How do you stay strong when projects don’t go as planned?
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
Nov 05, 2025 6:45 PM
Francisco Herrera
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span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(78, 78, 78);"Syed building resilience comes from staying calm, supporting your team, and focusing on quick solutions during unexpected changes and tight deadlines. This approach enhances flexibility and confidence in handling pressure. Personally, I stay strong when projects don’t go as planned by maintaining open communication with the team, reassessing priorities, and remaining adaptable to change./span
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