From parliament to the armed forces, the active reserve system consists of ordinary people in extraordinary roles.

You’re a small nation high up in the mountains.

You aspire to build an orderly and successful society.

You value your independence highly.

Yet you have limited resources. What can you do?

A very long time ago, Switzerland chose to organize its society using what we call the active reserve system. This system is still the cornerstone of our society today—in security, politics, schools, and associations.

As unique as the active reserve system is, its benefits and challenges are unique.

Benefits for Society

From a strategic perspective, the active reserve system has three closely interconnected benefits.

First, not having a standing army and not having a standing parliament is highly efficient: There aren’t any professional soldiers and politicians to pay constantly. Soldiers are called up in times of crisis or war, they serve as long as needed and are sent home again when their mission is accomplished. Likewise, politicians gather for the parliamentary sessions four times a year, only to follow their original professions in between parliamentary sessions.

Second, because soldiers and politicians are ordinary citizens, there is no detached caste of people who control the state. Every citizen can serve in the Armed Forces. Every citizen can be elected into political office.

And third, power is dispersed, with no individual amassing too much power. You can’t be a member of parliament and an army general at the same time. But you can be an army general first, and serve in parliament after quitting the Armed Forces. Or vice-versa. But for lower-level functions, it’s possible to serve in the Armed Forces and on the local school council at the same time: If that weren’t possible, we wouldn’t have enough people to fill all those active reserve jobs in security, politics, schools and associations.

Benefits in a Complex World

In a complex world, everything is connected. There is no single entity or person who can solve a problem alone. The active reserve system brings together people from different walks of life, with different expertise and experience. It’s always refreshing to see the solutions a group of seemingly unconnected people come up with: Their professional experience and different perspectives help them find pragmatic solutions they wouldn’t find if they all had the same backgrounds.

Since the incorporation of our Republic in 1291, we deeply detest central power and ruling classes. So by empowering groups to make decentralized decisions, we are not just making use of the potential of our society, but also speeding up decisions.

Benefits during Crises

Our world has become so complex and interconnected that it takes a literal flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil to set off a tornado in Texas. Crises often arise due to seemingly unconnected events that lead to chaos and disruption.

I experienced such a crisis just last week. Unusually heavy snowfalls in Zermatt blocked roads and trains, caused trees to collapse onto power lines, and the village was cut off from civilization for three days with no electricity.

That was the moment for the active reserve system. Besides the professional police who enforced law and order, the active-reserve fire brigade helped clear roads and cut fallen trees. The active-reserve civil protection service ramped up an emergency power aggregate, allowing the population to charge their mobile phones and get hot water or a warm soup. Countless volunteers helped care for the trapped tourists. Those hotels connected to the emergency power system assisted the civil protection service with additional possibilities to charge electronic devices and get warm food.

You can call it the active reserve system, you can call it solidarity, it doesn’t matter. The main point is that this system works in real-life crisis: There was no hectic, no violence, and no suffering in Zermatt. Everyone helped everyone. One for all, all for one.

This motto is engraved in the ceiling of our parliamentary building, and it is possibly the best way to describe the active reserve system in one sentence.

Challenges

The core challenge of a flourishing active reserve system is to keep the entire population engaged. Active reserve means that citizens perform public duties for no or very little pay for the sake of the nation and society, besides their everyday jobs. And if you want to choose the best person for each job, you need the resources reservoir of the entire population.

Of course, this runs contrary to the individualistic tendencies of our society. Asking what the country can do for you is much more en-vogue than asking what you can do for the country.

So, how do we get back on track with engaging the entire population in our active reserve system? By not just focusing on the benefits of the active reserve system for society, but by emphasizing its benefits for the individuals.

Personal Benefits for Your Business

People don’t just bring their professional experience to the table in active reserve service, they also benefit from their active reserve efforts on a professional side.

Active reserve service is ideal for sharing problem-solving experience in a new setting. As an entrepreneur and an active reserve officer in the Swiss Armed Forces, I am often asked how we handle certain problems in our company. And yes, now and then I am asked to give a demo of our product, leading straight to new leads and customers. And yes, I have hired many people I knew from the military.

Personal Benefits for Your Network

I have always been an active networker. The active reserve system was by far the best platform to build and expand my network, both nationally and internationally. For example, I had the chance to represent Switzerland in an international military exercise in Sweden or train MBA students in crisis management.

I have met many great people I would never have met without the active reserve system, that very special system that sits at the foundation of my home country.

When I was conscripted, who would have imagined that I would meet a guy with whom I would co-found Yonder 15 years later, or the godfather of my eldest child who would be born 10 years later?