Great minds often say that the best solutions to complex problems are rarely one-dimensional. As a serial entrepreneur navigating the intricate realms of education, technology, sustainability, and intellectual property, I’ve discovered a crucial lesson that applies to any business or innovation. Shaping a thriving business, much like building resilient infrastructure, requires a holistic, nuanced approach, not the pursuit of mere numeric targets. In my many years of working across industries and continents, I’ve realized that narrowly focusing on numbers often leads to suboptimal solutions that fail to account for the intricate ecosystem they exist in.
The title may sound abstract to some, how do we integrate "holistic" thinking into something as seemingly straightforward as setting infrastructure goals? Let me start by stating the obvious: businesses, startups, and entire industries are deeply interconnected systems. Whether you're designing buildings, launching a product, or incorporating AI into your business, the resilience of what you create depends on how well it interacts with its broader context.
The Fallacy of Numbers-Driven Goals
What happens when we define success in terms of cold, isolated numbers? Let’s take a controversial example discussed in past think tanks: the UK government’s annual target of building 1.5 million homes. On paper, this seems like a worthy goal. Who could argue against providing more housing in a country grappling with accommodation shortages? But such targets often come with unintended consequences. Instead of addressing the holistic needs of an urban ecosystem, transport infrastructure, schools, green spaces, and energy-efficient designs, decision-makers risk pushing out homes that meet numerical quotas but fail to serve their residents' long-term needs.
Similarly, startups and small businesses often fall into a "growth trap," hyper-focused on achieving high revenue or user numbers. The metrics become the narrative, overlooking critical questions: Is this growth sustainable? Is it supported by operational systems? Are employees, community, and customers equally thriving?
Let me assure you, as someone who has seen startups burn out faster than you can say "valuation," resilience is about thriving while adapting, not about how fast you can hit vanity metrics.
A Call for Holistic Thinking
To shift the paradigm toward resilience, we entrepreneurs and innovators need a fresh playbook. By focusing on the interconnectedness of our actions and their long-term consequences, we can create products, teams, and strategies that don’t just survive but evolve with challenges.
Core Components of Holistic Resilience in Business
Here’s a roadmap to adopting holistic resilience, drawn from both my experience in entrepreneurship and the principles of sustainable infrastructure:
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Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration
In one of my initiatives, Fe/male Switch, I observed firsthand how cross-disciplinary collaboration leads to solutions that outperform siloed thinking. Engage stakeholders across departments (or sectors) early, customers, employees, suppliers, and even competitors. Holistic resilience thrives in partnerships. Never forget that solving systemic problems requires systemic allies. -
Evaluate Multi-Dimensional Metrics
Numerical targets are fine if placed in context. For instance, when I assess a project’s success, I always include qualitative KPIs, such as team satisfaction levels, customer well-being metrics, and impact on community ecosystems. Use tools like Triple Bottom Line calculators to evaluate not just your financial outcomes but also social and environmental contributions. -
Plan for Adaptability, Not Perfection
My work in blockchain startups taught me one crucial lesson: technology and markets will evolve faster than you anticipate. Instead of striving for a "perfect" system, build adaptable frameworks. Think of resilience as the ability to pivot efficiently rather than avoid disruption altogether. -
Embed Tech-Enabled Monitoring
As we integrate more AI tools into our workflows, holistic monitoring becomes easier. Platforms like Google Cloud’s scalable apps guide help us monitor infrastructure health, pinpoint inefficiencies, and proactively manage risks. For any business, integrating AI to monitor your operations and anticipate challenges makes it easier to bounce back under pressure.
Avoid These Common Mistakes
From mistakes I’ve made and observed, here are the biggest pitfalls to avoid when planning for resilience:
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Overlooking Human Infrastructure
Much like building public infrastructure where human-centered considerations matter (e.g., accessibility and social equity), failing to prioritize your team’s well-being and skill development will simply result in burnout and turnover. -
Neglecting Long-Term Thinking
Too often, businesses chase short-term goals that win investor approval but backfire later. For example, cutting marketing expenses may improve margins today but diminish customer acquisition opportunities tomorrow. -
Relying Solely on Technology
Tools are enablers, not saviors. If your business processes are chaotic or you ignore systemic issues, no AI or software can "rescue" your company from dysfunction. -
Mimicking Without Context
Just because a big company scaled using flashy tactics doesn’t mean it works for all. Your business operates in its unique context, acknowledge that.
Building Resilience With Purpose: The "Gamepreneurship" Mindset
In designing Fe/male Switch and CADChain, I’ve leaned heavily on neuroscience principles to integrate adaptability into the core of entrepreneurship. Resilience, when built with purpose, becomes a mindset, gamepreneurship, focused on innovation, adaptability, and collaboration. Whether you're building a start-up or tinkering with an individual freelance idea, resilience (not perfection) should be the North Star.
From navigating fluctuating funding cycles to building systems supporting women in STEM, I’ve often found the decision-making process easier when I focus on aligning efforts with a clear mission and strong community ties. Interestingly, this mirrors the "holistic infrastructure principles" discussed in recent frameworks like the UN Principles for Resilient Infrastructure. Every solution needs to resonate with its people, its purpose, and its place in time.
How You Can Start
Here’s a quick 3-step bias breaker you can implement today:
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Ask "What If?" Questions
In the next team meeting, challenge assumptions by posing "What if?" scenarios to test how robust your strategies are under different conditions (e.g., economic downturns, tech disruptions, team shrinkages). -
Scenario Mapping
Use frameworks like mind maps to analyze how changes in one part of your business affect others, both directly and indirectly, just as a natural disaster could ripple through an infrastructure network. -
Workshop Frameworks
Test out practical planning tools like Fe/male Switch startup resources. These gamified learning experiences can show you how to connect dots across various elements of a business.
The Path Forward
Whether you’re trying to turn an idea into a business or a concept into a startup, remember: Numbers tell only part of the story. Building something truly resilient means asking deeper questions and looking beyond the immediate target. Take a step back, embed adaptability into your strategies, and align your vision with long-term, interconnected advancements. I'll leave you with this: success without sustainability is fragile. Let’s redefine resilience, not by the speed of growth, but by how deeply rooted and community-connected our solutions truly are.
So, dear entrepreneurs, freelancers, and dreamers, what kind of legacy will your projects leave?
FAQ
1. What do great infrastructure resilience targets focus on?
Great infrastructure resilience targets emphasize holistic thinking, considering risk management, community engagement, and adaptable strategies rather than purely numerical metrics. Check out UNDRR Resilient Infrastructure Principles
2. How can you monitor progress towards infrastructure resilience?
Progress can be measured using frameworks and tools like the Resilience Measurement Index (RMI) and Critical Infrastructure Resilience Evaluation (CIRE). Learn about resilience monitoring methods
3. What are multi-dimensional metrics in infrastructure resilience?
Multi-dimensional metrics include financial, social, and environmental contributions to provide a comprehensive perspective. Metrics like qualitative KPIs can measure team satisfaction and community well-being. Learn about multi-dimensional metrics
4. Why is collaborative risk management important?
Collaborative risk management allows various stakeholders to address systemic challenges through partnerships and cooperative strategies. Explore collaborative risk principles
5. How does technology contribute to holistic monitoring?
Platforms like Google Cloud scalable apps enable real-time infrastructure monitoring, detecting inefficiencies and mitigating risks effectively. Learn about scalable apps
6. What is the relevance of adaptability in resilience strategy?
Adaptability is key to responding to evolving markets and technologies, ensuring systems can pivot efficiently during disruptions. Discover adaptable frameworks for resilience
7. What challenges arise from focusing solely on numerical targets?
Numerical targets, such as housing quotas, may ignore vital aspects like transport, energy, green spaces, and community resilience, leading to unsustainable outcomes. Learn more about numerical goals pitfalls
8. How can gamified tools help entrepreneurs build resilience?
Resources like Fe/male Switch provide gamified learning experiences that teach interconnected business strategies for holistic success. Check out Fe/male Switch Startup Game
9. What mistakes should businesses avoid in resilience planning?
Common pitfalls include neglecting long-term thinking, relying too much on technology, and mimicking tactics without considering unique contexts. Explore resilience planning mistakes
10. How does gamepreneurship contribute to purposeful resilience building?
Gamepreneurship helps incorporate innovation, adaptability, and collaboration into business models, focusing on aligning efforts with a clear mission while fostering community ties. Learn about the Gamepreneurship mindset
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
