Understanding the biological processes that promote the invariable and resilient ecosystem services on which humanity depends has been a core focus of ecology for decades. Using randomly structured community models, Robert May showed that diversity is destabilising, so what then explains the vast biodiversity we observe in the real world? There have been many answers from different study systems, often resulting in the classical ecological observation: “it depends”. To distil general understanding from a sea of idiosyncrasy, we need to consider a variety of systems and scales. Here, I present experiments using freshwater mesocosms (buckets), data collected on typhoon disturbance in the field using passive acoustic monitoring (microphones), and models of “response diversity” to describe patterns and drivers of ecological stability across scales. I propose that systems that exhibit a diversity of environmental responses across different organisms (response diversity) or different sites (spatial insurance) should be more stable. Finally, I introduce recent efforts to coordinate international research on the drivers of stability through the nascent Response Diversity Network.