Organizational resilience potential is defined as the latent (non-evident) capacity of an organization to anticipate threats, effectively confront adverse events and adapt to changing conditions (Duchek, 2020),[1]​ with the aim of surviving and thriving in the face of adversity. This capacity becomes evident when the organization faces adverse situations. At the moment of overcoming adversity, the organization, instead of being weakened, is strengthened.

On September 11, 2001, the day of the terrorist attack on the twin towers, the investment bank Morgan Stanley had approximately 2,700 employees distributed over 22 floors in the south tower between the 43rd and 74th floors. After the impact of the first plane in the north tower, Morgan Stanley's alarms were activated to evacuate its employees and 15 minutes later, when the second plane hit the south tower, its offices were already practically empty. (Coutu, 2002).[6]​.

How was this possible? The characteristics of resilience potential are three: anticipating, coping and adapting. Morgan Stanley frequently carried out fire drills in which they practiced the evacuation of all personnel, for this reason, on the day of the terrorist attack, when the alarm was activated, they did not wonder if it was a false alarm, they acted according to their training and thanks to this action, the lives of thousands of people were saved.

Morgan Stanley also had alternate locations to relocate its employees in the event of an accident in the twin towers, as well as backups of all its information strategically located in other places to avoid losing its databases in the event of an accident.

These characteristics observable in the case of Morgan Stanley on the day of the September 11 terrorist attack allow us to contextualize what an organization with the potential for organizational resilience is.

The potential for resilience improves an organization's chances of surviving and thriving in the face of adversity.