In my lifetime the US economy has experienced bank and savings and loan failures, inflation and full employment, a 20% prime rate and a Fed Funds rate of 0.0%, multiple recessions, and wild political swings in tariffs, tax rates, and regulations.

In my lifetime, my country has participated in many wars, eradicated some diseases, had a pandemic, and experienced thousands of large protests for various causes.

In my lifetime, travel became common, gadgetry a life requirement, and our lives have assumed those of the Jetsons. Most industry business models have changed significantly.

Those examples include evolution, the exceptional, and revolution.

And I’m not all that old!

Creating the culture and context for successfully navigating all types of external jolts is a requirement of building an enduring business.

Clear mission, vision, and core values are integral to the process. So too is alignment. Clear roles and responsibilities for anticipating and addressing or creating these various types of change is required.

What types of risk assessment are the responsibility of your top management? Your mid-level management? Your individual contributors?

Each of your employees has a different perspective, a different view, and a different ability to foresee, address, or create change.

We don’t expect the CNC operator to advise leadership of potential supplier failures or interest rate hikes; we don’t expect the CEO to anticipate power or water outages.

Does your risk management process reflect those realities?

Reactionary is better than uniformed. Prepared with thinking and context for reactions is significantly better still.

Regardless of what you do, the hits will just keep on coming. You might as well learn how to duck.

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