ERM-BC-COOP: What can we do?

About Sandy Hook and hurricanes, and ...

 

In an email from Kathy Gannon Rainey, publisher of the Disaster Resource GUIDE, Ms. Rainey asks everyone on the email list

• What can be done to prevent such an event in the future?

• What can I personally do to make a difference?

She then suggested mentoring.

To my mind, that's an excellent idea.

AARP, a geezer group to which I do not belong (it's a political issue) asked me, also via an email, if I would be willing to mentor people. I agreed, but since AARP had no checkbox for what I do, risk management, I suspect I'll either hear no more from AARP or I will receive a reply that totally ignores my input. That's Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for people - and organizations - that live in predefined worlds; if there is no checkbox or radio button, then there can't be any other option(s).

We should make ourselves available for mentoring.

We should make our expertise available to local government.

We should offer our knowledge to BBA and MBA students.

We should make ourselves available to the local media as Risk Management Subject Matter Experts (SMEs).

Organizations to which we belong, such as BCI USA and ACP, because they have a national presence, could develop lists of willing mentors and presenters, and make the lists' availability known to the media. It seems to garner more attention when a professional organization offers to provide SMEs. BCI already has a mentor volunteer list, although I wonder if anyone ever sought out a mentor; in all my years on the list, no one ever contacted me. (I have mentored people who sought me out - sometimes in unlikely locales, "all things considered.")

While I'm certain all my loyal readers - I hope that plural is justified - will agree that we should do all of the above, the problem remains the old one of leading a horse to water (but you can't make it drink). We can announce our availability, but unless someone takes us up on the offer, we - and our profession (trade?) - are no better understood than before.

Unfortunately, the times people are most inclined to invite our knowledge into their domains is immediately following a disaster, and that is too late; the barn door was open and the horse escaped.

I wonder if because a risk management practitioner may not offer the most popular approach - right now, "gun control" and adding armed guards to schools is the reaction du jour to Sandy Hook even though there are better, non-knee jerk reactions to prevent similar occurrences - we are ignored or simply overlooked. Perhaps our recommendations are less than "politically correct" in some circles.

For all that, Ms. Rainey's suggestion that we - the nation - need mentors across many endeavors seems to me a good idea.

Now all we need are people to mentor.

ERM-BC-COOP: Volunteer will introduce ERM

 

The other day I wrote about a fellow who initially said he was an MBA candidate interning as a business continuity planner at a commercial endeavor. Our Manager-in-Training complained to a list that he knew nothing of business continuity planning, had no guidance from the school, and no help from the organization engaging him; ergo, he turned to the people on the list.

Turns out his appeal lacked a certain candidness and that there was more, much more, to the story.

But that is not the point of this post.

I have on my very portable notebook (nee' laptop) computer a PowerPoint presentation designed specifically for the College Crowd. The primary audience is composed of MBA candidates; a secondary audience is made up of BBA hopefuls.

The PowerPoint is a two-parter that introduces Enterprise Risk Management to the people who can take the message back to their employers. There are 30 "slides" spread over two days assuming 2-hour blocks; that allows time for encouraged questions and discussions.

The PowerPoint will not make the students into qualified practitioners - that is not its intent.

It will send them back to their offices with an understanding of what business continuity - enterprise risk management - is all about and with sufficient knowledge to sort the wheat from the chafe when considering engagement of practitioners, either as an in-house resource or on a consultancy basis.

As with most PowerPoint, and similar, presentations, this is best presented by its author. As its author I am more than willing to fill-in for area instructors for a couple of class sessions; I might even be talked into donating my time. I will gladly take the show on the road, but only with pre-paid transportation and lodging.

(I learned the lesson about travel when I was invited to present in Ghana; for that tale, see http://johnglennmbci.blogspot.com/2010/02/funny-thing-happened.html.)

I am a great believer in "educating the masses" about enterprise risk management; that's the reason for this blog and the associated Web site. But first, you have to get the masses to mass.

John Glenn, MBCI
Enterprise Risk Management practitioner
Hollywood - Fort Lauderdale Florida
JohnGlennMBCI at gmail dot com