Decision making on the fringes + a Roman General + "No One is Coming to Save You"
Profiles in Preparedness #6
When an organization faces obvious danger in the near term yet still has time to act, decision-making can feel straightforward.
If a hurricane is forecasted to hit your city in a couple of days or a security threat is made against an event in a few hours, prepared organizational leaders tend to act decisively. They evacuate, shelter in place, call for support, adjust operations, or do whatever else is needed. In these cases, having a known, imminent risk gives executives the confidence required to initiate protective action.
What’s harder is when you’re on the fringes of the incident.
You’re not in the direct line of fire, but you know you’ll be affected—you just don’t know how badly. Get it right, and you simply did your job. Get it wrong, or the incident doesn't happen at the potential intensity, and standby for comments from the cheap seats.
Preparing to make decisions on the fringes of incidents is becoming increasingly important for emergency managers, public safety, and security professionals looking to protect their organizations despite uncertainty.
I break this dynamic down and offer 5 ways organizations can address this problem in this week’s article, which you can read here.
Here is some writing I’ve revisited with clients this week
Article | Fortune Favors the Prepared. There’s a story about a Roman General who pushed his army all night - through a treacherous and formidable swamp - to reach the high ground before dawn and before his enemy reached the battlefield. The victory came the next day, but it was won the night before. This story (and the lessons shared in the article) was published before I began sharing this newsletter with readers, but it is fundamental to what this is about.
LinkedIn | It is hard to celebrate preparedness. It can be hard to publicly acknowledge the people and organizations who weren’t affected by an incident when others are suffering. Yet we need to celebrate it if we will drive the change needed to prepare for an uncertain future. The dynamics in this post can help organizations design the culture of preparedness they need in the pursuit of resilience.
LinkedIn | Preparing to respond & recover from incidents. Following the misinformation and distrust experienced following recent hurricanes, communities preparing for an uncertain future will be developing their relationships with recovery organizations (like Team Rubicon).
Two Other Things I Read This Week That Are Worth Sharing
Book | “No One Is Coming To Save You.” Written by my friend Scott Mann, this “green beret’s guide to getting big sh*t done” is a must-read right now. It is safe to say that our country is (and has been) in a period of change. That isn’t a comment about this week’s election but a statement about the changes we’re seeing in our security environment, our society, and our world. This book is full of lessons Scott learned bridging vast divisions between people by meeting them where they are, not where you want them to be. Pick this one up!
Article | Sport is getting hotter, harder and deadlier. This article was written about the performance of athletes, but its application to security professionals is real. The short version is that heat makes people angrier, hinders decision-making, and blunts physical coordination. That is a challenging combination for those protecting our events and communities.
Whenever you’re ready, here are three ways I work with clients:
Consulting Projects and Speaking Events. I help organizations prepare for an uncertain future with a variety of preparedness initiatives and left-of-bang-focused presentations.
Proactive Threat Recognition Training. Learn how to read the behaviors and establish baselines discussed in the book Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps’ Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life in our online training courses.
Subscribe to the Left of Bang Academy: Access the tools and resources needed by emergency management and homeland security professionals to prepare their organizations for future disasters, disruptions, and crises.
If you’d like to learn more and see what is available for your organization, you can reach me at patrick@cp-journal.com or on LinkedIn.