Win or Lose? Nay. Win or Learn.
I say it a lot – it’s never too late to learn what you wish you knew earlier (it’s even on the back cover of my book). Setbacks are opportunities to learn. Just because you failed doesn't mean you are doomed to repeat failure again. And is it “failure”? You were successful enough to get to that point in the first place. It’s just a sign to do something differently.
Lessons abound even in the winning. It’s not unusual to hear in an NFL post-game conference, “It wasn’t pretty, but it was a ‘W’. We have work to do before next Sunday.” After action reviews (AARs) in the military ask for 3 what-we-did-well and 3 what-can-be-done-differently – it allows for improvement even when everything goes well.
Business continuity is no different.
You will learn regardless if you are paying attention as disruptors are becoming more sophisticated and new risks emerge. Your events – be it a traditionally “bad” disaster or a “good” one like viral success - are opportunities, not just crises. They are opportunities to learn, to advance your business, and to get ahead of your competition.
First, the mere act of going through an event will inform your strategy and performance for next time. The solid benefit of having been through it before will reduce your negative surprises and improve how you use resources on hand. You will know you have too many of one thing, not enough of another, or not even aware you had the very thing you needed, for example. Your employees will be better for it next time because they are battle test, aware, and (hopefully) trained going forward. Already sounds like you’re in a position to win!
Second, win or learn, you and your business will evolve and – more importantly – thrive. Having a sit down and think about things is not just for you in the CEO/Founder chair. It is a process that happens at all levels of the organization as well as inside and out. The “opportunity” happened to your whole organization, not just you. You will see who your friends and partners are in the community or learn who they should be.
Your business, by and large, without a business continuity plan can be rated an F for readiness. You can be a thinker and make some changes to get that grade up to a D or C-, which is passing and might be enough. You might just want to just pass. You might just want the compliance auditor to go away. This is all still winning.
You decide if you prefer to put the future of your business, your employees’ paycheck, and your clients’ trust with a B+ or A grade by doing business continuity, which you can do by learning and implementing what you learn.
Win or win big!
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