Lightning Rods and Risks

A lightning bolt hit the big pine nearby the other day, rattling the surroundings and sending fifty pound splinters flying. I have a new appreciation for the power in those flashes, and am now looking at installing lightning rods to keep my house intact. This reactionary approach is similar to how businesses often deal with rapid changes in their environments.

When one of these big challenges suddenly appear, businesses scramble to handle the them. Here are a few rather unpleasant surprises that you may have lived through. [seems that pleasant surprises are very rare]

• Unforeseen competitive product emerges to wipe out your advantage
• Your pending sale of 50 units get derailed by the customer’s political infighting
• Major strategic partner gets acquired by a not-so-friendly foreign corporation
• The head of R&D just said he needs another 10 months to get to beta stage

These shocking events get everyone’s attention and make it easier to marshal the resources to deal with the crisis. But rather than waiting for the lightning bolt to strike at your doorstep, it is better to get some idea of what you would do if it did happen.

Though these events seem to just spontaneously come about, there are often a number of warning signs that go unheeded for a variety of reasons. Whether it is the momentum of the project or the lack of critical reviews, bad news and concerns are often prevented from surfacing. I must admit that I am also guilty when it comes to this approach – a few years ago I noticed that the big pine had already endured a direct lightning strike as it had a vertical split down its 80 foot trunk. I just brushed it off and assumed it was a rare occurrence, never to happen again…

To build resiliency in your organization to absorb or rapidly address these types of events you need to take one of two paths – build safety nets or have a good fire department. Usually you have limited resources and can’t afford to have a team just for “what-ifs”. But minimally it is worthwhile to have some regular reviews to critically assess developments, partnerships, sales, and markets. It needn’t be an all-encompassing effort but rather should take into consideration the key milestones and likelihoods, and the risks that could impede them.

So before the storm clouds are gathering around your forecasts and projects, be sure you have your lightning protection in place. A little preparedness can go a long way to avoiding misfortune.