The goal of planning is not The Plan

This should not come as a surprise once I explain what I mean.

The plan outlines the steps that will happen and the roles each person will have. It puts everyone on notice of when X happens, Y will be done by Z. Oh, but there is so much more!

First, planning is extremely important. It sets you up for success by having you prepare for disasters and disruptions so you can respond to them. Planning also creates the opportunity to set up systems that will mitigate any damage when the disruption or disaster happens. This already looks a lot deeper than the X, Y, Z.

The goal of planning is so much more than a document you can look at. The process of making the plan enables you to learn more about the business you run on a deeper level. The process of making the plan increases your ability to collaborate and communicate with others both inside your business and outside your business if you've identified who that may be to help you. The process of making the plan - just making the plan - elevates you to a level of "ready" you didn't even know you were missing and was possible.

Second, through training and exercise, the plan becomes familiar. It becomes muscle memory. It keeps the knowledge of what to do alive so you're not looking at something 10 months after you last looked at it and it all reads like stereo instructions because you are not familiar with it (even though it is key to keeping your business alive). Familiarity transforms the plan into a playbook, which creates agility in the response. The plan also becomes a living document because it keeps getting tweaked and getting even stronger every time you exercise it.

This is true for business continuity. This is true for emergency management. This is true for crisis management. This is why you shouldn't have a compliance products company do your cookie cutter plan: they hand you something to check the box. You've done nothing to achieve any of the things I just discussed; you're no closer to truly being ready.

It's like the assignments I give my graduate students: I'm not giving them work for the sake of having more to grade; I want them to show me how they will apply the information they have to a scenario or set of facts. Their work shows me if they got it or they don't got it. It also allows me to direct them on how to do better on the next assignment. They are not simply regurgitating facts, they are learning.

What's the goal of planning? To enable you to be a bad a$$ who takes care of their business, secure your people, premises, and processes in advance, and rise to the occasion to keep operations continuous. The goal...is a state of preparedness; going through the steps gets you there. The plan becomes part of your business culture where you secure your assets with a plan, survive any disaster or disruption, and thrive in the aftermath.