A Plan for all Reasons
Peter de Jager is a provocative Speaker, Writer and Consultant. His primary focus in on how we manage change, technology and the future.
In addition to speaking at conferences worldwide, he also writes monthly columns for CIO Magazine and Computerworld Canada.
His goal is always to question what we think is so, and in so doing perhaps open up new opportunities.
If you'd like permission to reprint any of Peter's articles, please contact him directly.
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For many organizations, Sept. 11th
has become the much needed business case for long neglected contingency
plans. That’s the right decision, but for the worst of reasons. The
added risks posed by terrorist attacks are, in the greater scheme of
things, insignificant.
It is illogical to focus on terrorism as our reason for disaster recovery
planning, when more pressing reasons surround us. The same is true for the
added attention being paid to increasing system security. Both responses
are the very human reflex reactions to the immediacy of a catastrophic
occurrence.
If we take the time to step back from our visceral reactions to recent
events, we can see it is still far more dangerous to drive to the airport
than it is to get on the plane. If we really wanted to reduce risks to our
personal safety in a significant manner, we’d stop driving before we
stopped flying… instead, rather than flying, some people were forced to
drive from
Corporate wide contingency planning is a good idea, not in preparation for
a specific event, but for all the unforeseen events which surround us.
From earthquakes and ice storms, to floods and fires, hurricanes,
tornados, etc. etc. and oh yes, terrorist attacks. All of these present
different risks and require flexibility of both thought and action as
solutions.
We could, if time and money were no object, speculate on every possible
risk, and formulate an appropriate detailed plan of action for every
conceivable scenario. We could draw on the resources of thousands of
companies willing to offer us their services on every aspect of our
nightmarish visions. The results would consist of racks and racks of
contingency plans, which if we wanted to extract full benefit from, would
require we exercise them on an annual basis.
That’s been done, it’s expensive, and even with the added impetus of
‘Osama’ the world’s greatest contingency planning motivator, there
is the reality of a deepening recession. Applying proven methodologies to
contingency planning is always the right way to embark on this project,
but we don’t all have the luxury of the necessary resources.
Disasters by their very nature, happen unexpectedly. That’s part of the
problem and it’s why contingency planning is so effective. Planning
allows us to think through the process of what to do if (when?) something
happens, before it actually occurs. That thought process alone is the
central core of any contingency plan.
Before spending potentially millions on a comprehensive plan, we first
need to determine our vulnerability; this would allow us to build a real
business case rather than relying on CNN as our advisor in paranoia.
How to start a disaster recovery plan? Given the stated nature of
disasters, ‘unexpectedly’ seems like the right approach.
At
When they arrive via the waiting bus, they’re told of the ‘disaster’
that has taken place. They are to respond to this ‘disaster’ over the
next two days. What is the ‘disaster’? That depends on how severe you
want it to be and what you think would provide the best information.
Back at the office the remainder of the management team could take the
exercise one step further and pretend that the entire offsite team were
victims of a disaster. This might be more than your organization could
handle without severely impacting business operations. The alternative is
to merely explain what is going on and cope with their absence for two
days. There is learning to be had in even this minimalist approach.
The exercise would provide two benefits. First? An immediate and
relatively inexpensive evaluation of how well your management team
responds to an unexpected situation.
Secondly? In a very short period of time, with minimal impact to your
organization, you highlight those areas most vulnerable to the
‘disaster’ you selected. With that in hand you can now move forward to
a ‘real’ contingency plan with a specific objective in mind.
The objections to this exercise are obvious. You can’t afford the time.
You can’t afford the negative impact to the business. You can't afford
to disruption to private lives… But then… you probably couldn’t
afford a real disaster either so you can blissfully decide to do nothing.
Good Luck.
© 2005,
Peter de Jager – Peter is passionate about change, how it affects both
individuals and organizations and allows them to grow and prosper. To contact him, and
host internal seminars on Change visit www.technobility.com
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