How Robust is Your Recovery Plan?
Some may be aware of the fire that closed Heathrow Airport in March 2025.
The result: thousands of stranded passengers and questions about how resilient Britain’s infrastructure was.
The problem that caused the fire was in a transformer to the North of the airport. What happened was that moisture entered the “high voltage bushings” in a transformer, sparking an electrical fault and causing it to catch fire.
The potential problem was reported in 2018 but nothing was done about it by the National Grid, who owned the transformer.
So, the problem arose because of a third party’s failure to maintain its equipment. The question for all of us as business leaders is: “How reliant are we on third parties to ensure that our contingency and recovery plans work as they should?”
The problem with an event such as the fire in question is that some might consider it a “Black Swan Event” - an event considered “highly unlikely” to occur (as is the incidence of black swans). What made this event less of a black swan however was that, although the reporting process for the problem worked, the process for addressing it broke down. The event wouldn’t have occurred if the National Grid had addressed the problem when it was reported.
Think back to the COVID pandemic – countries had plans, bit they relied on other countries being able to produce the PPE, etc needed. Problem: everyone closed down because of “social distancing” requirements preventing workers going to work.
This could happen to anyone at any time. If our recovery plans rely on another party to provide a vital service and that organisation finds itself unable to, then we’re back to square one.
We can plan, make contingency plans, and contingency plans for contingency plans. There comes a point, however, when it’s no longer realistic to have plans covering plans covering plans covering plans.
In many cases our only solutions are:
- Run regular tests with the third parties concerned OR…
- Have a contract with a service provider that stipulates that penalties and litigation will follow should that provider fail to maintain their goods and services in a state fit to perform as intended OR...
- Hope that things will work out...
I know which one I’d rather adopt.
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email.
Labels: Crisis Management, Leadership, Productivity, Strategy, Teamwork
Are We Forgetting How to Plan?
Modern communications and business practices mean that, generally, we can communicate faster than we did before and respond likewise.
Pressure of competition has led more and more businesses to respond at ever increasing speed to client needs. After all, if you don’t reply in what your client considers a “timely manner”, they can go somewhere else. The only exception to this are government services and monopolies who don’t have to worry about competition.
When I first started studying the art of time management, one of the first lessons was that we have no control over other people or external events (although we may be able to influence them). This meant we had to allow for delays, being on leave, and all other factors. Nowadays it seems that no one understands this concept and expects an answer almost as soon as they’ve sent their text or email message.
An added challenge is that things can change so fast these days, that plans made last month may be rendered irrelevant this month (remember COVID?). How do we plan for an increasingly uncertain world?
It does suggest that the art of planning is disappearing. Our counter parties have other things on their minds apart from us and we need to take that into account and, indeed, respect it. The exception is when we hold the “upper hand” over the other and can demand action. However, demanding turnaround of one’s request within 24 hours is just as likely to result in a botch job due to lack of time to give it full consideration.
Time management is a skill that every individual needs. The ability to plan comes not only with understanding time management but also as one gains in experience.
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email
Labels: Career, Crisis Management, Leadership, Productivity, Strategy, Teamwork
Mastery: The Ultimate Status?
I recently came across a quote ascribed to Derek Sivers: “Mastery is the best goal because rich can’t buy it, the impatient can’t rush it, the privileged can’t inherit it, and nobody can steal it. You can only earn it through hard work. Mastery is the ultimate status.”
In our modern world of instant gratification through the internet, how true is this? In the past, young people used to study as “apprentices” of plumbers, electricians, carpenters, stonemasons and other trades people. After a number of years and showing that they had truly learnt their skill, they in turn became “masters”.
Many now complain that it’s very difficult to find a “good” electrician or plumber. The concept of apprenticeships is disappearing, although in some professions one can still see this process. I’m thinking of engineering, medicine, accountancy, law where aspiring practitioners still need to gain hands on experience. These professions, usually, are well-remunerated.
Is there a “social” problem as well in that “tradespeople” are somehow seen as “lower” in the pecking order? No one thinks that when they need a new gas boiler installed urgently! The plumber then assumes the status of a saviour in the middle of winter.
What you realise is that (certainly in Europe), masters, artisans and similar can be equally well remunerated. I remember the story of a university professor who retrained as a plumber (and presumably underwent some kind of apprenticeship) to find he was not only earning more than he used to as a professor but also could set his own work hours and was not beholden to the arcane rules and regulations that govern many large institutions (although he probably swapped university rules and regulations for government ones).
Back to the point: do apprenticeships still have a place in modern society? Answer is an unqualified yes. Despite the advances of technology, artificial intelligence and other tools of instant gratification, you can’t replace a plumber with a smart phone when a pipe bursts in the middle of winter and needs to be fixed.
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email.
