Things are meant to change - for better or worse - as part of evolution and life. I've said after a disaster or disruption, the final stage of business continuity is to return to normal business operations, but what is "normal"? Is it your old normal or a new one?
Many factors go into that. The old normal is familiar and expected. No problem going back to it, especially when business continuity is supposed to bring you to it. It might well be a desired success for the usual to return. Sometimes the normal has to be new due to circumstances being altered so significantly by outside forces. Or, even better, you elect for a new normal in the spirit of being agile and taking the opportunity to be creative.
It doesn't matter to me, honestly. They are all winning if it means survival of the business and the ability to thrive. There is a time, however, when I don't like it.
I was listening to Bryan Cranston's autobiography, 'A Life in Parts,' on Audible while on a walk. He was talking about how he used to play with toy guns. Then JFK was assassinated. One of his friends said, "I'm not playing with guns anymore!" So they stopped. Bryan then said (yes, I stopped on my walk to rewind it and make a note):
"We tossed our guns aside as if it would cure or alter the course of things that already happened. Urgency was lost and we went back to normal. But a new normal."
The new urgency after Helene was we-have-to-do-something to help the businesses get back. The new urgency of recovery. The new urgency after Helene was stating a stark fact from FEMA as if it was a new-found-fact, never heard before...one about small business failure rates after a disaster that I have used in every single one of my presentations over the last 3 years. But as Bryan said, urgency gets lost and we go back to normal. The new normal knowing what happened (and what can happen), but mistakenly thinking "this won't happen again." Or the new normal of just accepting these sorts of things happen and there is nothing you can do to stop them (there is something!).
Disasters make budgets open for investing in mitigation and preparedness. Then, in some cases after something hasn't happened - the next Helene doesn't materialize in 2 years - spending cuts happen to business continuity planning. A new normal where you acknowledged business continuity was important and had value, then decided that the everyday hiccups it secures aren't worth it anymore.
This is not everyone's commonplace experience. But it happens often enough it is a tracked trend in the industry.
This "New" Normal can become a repeat of what was. It can become recovery without resilience. It can be tapping out on taking preventative action.
Or not. You have the power to choose another normal.
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