I had the a fantastic opportunity at a recent industry event to listen to a great guest speaker Dr. Frank Lista.
Dr. Lista and his team made a decision to fly into Haiti just weeks after the devastating earthquake which forever has impacted that country, it’s organizations and the people they need to help.
He made an interesting comment/observation about his time in Haiti. “Disasters don’t only destroy buildings and people, but they destroy organizations” You see this event wiped out many government offices and their officials. These same individuals that the citizens of that country looked to for direction. Without direction there was no organization. Without organization went a system, any existing system, an approach, an organized beginning point to respond to the disaster. To essentially begin to rebuild from the disaster.
“A disaster beheads the social mechanism”; Dr. Lista.
Disasters can be big or small. Most certainly the results of one that Dr. Lista witnessed were enormous. But I bring this back to you and your organization. Is your organization in a position to grow and prosper in the event of a disaster? Are you prepared? Do all of your staff, suppliers, and maybe even your customers know what the plan is in the event a ‘disaster’ hits your organization? Where will the direction come from and how will they rebuild and continue?
Write a plan, educate as many as required on your plan, test your plan and repeat the steps over again. Being prepared is more than half the equation.