#78 – PUBLIC APATHY IN THE PATH OF PREPAREDNESS – GEARY SIKICH

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I was supposed to be in Boston presenting at “The Disaster Conferences” on 28 January 2015. Well, the weather just put us out to 19 March 2015 for the now, rescheduled Boston conference. I guess that they are still feeling the effects of this week’s blizzard, now named “Juno”; that left Boston with over 24 inches of snow. Continue reading

#64 – RISK AND ORGANIZATIONAL MINDSET: LEARN TO THINK LIKE A COMMODITIES TRADER – GEARY W. SIKICH

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Our concept of risk management needs to change.  I’m not saying that the current practice is wrong; it just provides us with too much static risk assessment and the creation of many false positives in risk reports.  One may ask why I chose the use the example of commodities traders for a new risk mindset.  The answer is rather simple; commodities traders view risk as a rapid change agent.  That is to say, risk changes in likelihood, velocity, impact and exposure over time. Continue reading

#42 – WHEN IS A BLACK SWAN NOT A BLACK SWAN? – GEARY SIKICH

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There seem to be a lot of sightings of ‘black swans’ lately. Should we be concerned or are we wishfully thinking, caught up in media hype; or are we misinterpreting what a black swan event really is? The term black swan has become a popular buzzword for many; including, contingency planners, risk managers and consultants. However, are there really that many occurrences that qualify to meet the requirement of being termed a black swan or are we just caught up in the popularity of the moment?  Continue reading

#39 – REDEFINING THE BUSINESS IMPACT ASSESSMENT – GEARY SIKICH

UntitledREDEFINING THE BIA – USEFULNESS AND USES
If we agree on the basic premise that Business Continuity can be defined as sustaining what is critical to the enterprise’s survivability during periods of discontinuity; then we must recognize that the activity known as the Business Impact Assessment (Analysis) or BIA needs to be redefined.   The BIA, as currently practiced does not necessarily achieve the following:

  • Define what is critical to the organization.
  • Develop strategies to recover/sustain during times of discontinuity. Continue reading