Every day, an organization somewhere is impacted by an event that is both very negative and deeply weird—so weird no one ever imagined it could happen. Who knows, tomorrow it might be your organization.
In today’s post, we’ll look at the best recovery planning strategies for helping your organization be prepared for these so-called black swan attacks.
Related on MHA Consulting: Shark Attacks vs. Sunburn: Preparing for the Most Likely Problems
Usually, in business continuity (BC) and IT/disaster recovery (IT/DR), we focus on devising recovery plans for events that are highly likely to happen and/or would have a highly negative effect if they did happen.
We also emphasize using our resources in the most efficient manner possible, to make sure we get the most bang for the buck in the use we make of our BC and IT/DR dollars.
That is definitely the correct emphasis for every BC program.
However, it’s still the case that “Stuff Happens,” to paraphrase the bumper sticker. Weird things occur. Crazy stuff goes down. Black swans appear and even attack, at times.
Often in life, we like to assume we are in charge, but sometimes Mother Nature, or Mr. Murphy, gets a kick out of proving us wrong.
Every now and then, an unsinkable ship hits an iceberg—and sinks.
Every day, some organization somewhere gets stung by an event they never could have imagined happening to them.
Below are a few examples of fluky negative events from my own experience as a BC consultant. Call it a whole flock of black swans.
Those are just a few of the fluky negative events I’m familiar with from first-hand experience.
Another type of event many people are confident they personally will never have to deal with is workplace violence.
A sophisticated person might think that even if incidents with active shooters crop up in the news with disturbing regularity, the odds of such an event happening at any one workplace are small. This is true, but workplace violence comes in many types and occurs with regrettable frequency, as the National Safety Council’s 2017 statistics on assault at work make clear.
Given that fluky, negative things do happen in life, and that they can even happen to your company, what should you do in terms of your BC preparations?
As suggested above, first tend to any known gaps in your recovery planning. Also, focus on events that are either highly likely to occur or that would have a high impact if they did occur.
Always be aware that the unexpected black swan attack can happen. It does so every day somewhere or other. Remember to plan in terms of impacts (such as facility loss, staff loss, or loss of technology) rather than specific events. Don’t ignore an entire class of event. And never rest everything on the optimistic assumption that this or that bad thing will never happen because you never know.
For most organizations, most days are nice and routine. But every single day brings unexpected craziness to some company somewhere. One day this might include your company.
There’s no need to live in fear of the future, but it is wise to realize anything can happen. Don’t grow complacent. Maintain a flexible, adaptive mindset and be prepared to deal with the major types of impacts (such as facility loss, staff loss, and technology loss) no matter what their specific cause.
For more information on recovery planning, black swan attacks, and other hot topics in BC and IT/disaster recovery, check out these recent posts from MHA Consulting and BCMMETRICS: