Curtis Bartell
See the following -
A Perspective of Resilience as Pertains to the Risks Posed by Relying on Digital Platforms
Over the past few months, we have witnessed the "Pushmi-Pullyu" of Big Tech controls and their political influence/power of digital platforms, legislative hearings on their control, public outrage, alternative platforming, censorship, etc. etc...I should say now: this is not a political commentary. It is however a perspective of resilience as pertains to the risks of digital platform reliance. It would seem easy to write about this right now after high profile platforms have made history-making decisions over the past few days. BUT the recognition of their broad authorities and critical capabilities has been a recognized risk for many years; this is not new.
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Corporate Resilience During A Pandemic
As humanity grapples with the spread of COVID-19 globally, the emotional response is to do something, anything, everything. But how do we take that energy and successfully adapt? Most prudent organizations have had on their radar more visible threats like hurricanes, earthquakes, power outages, terrorism, and war. The quiet pervasiveness of a pandemic seems to have caught us by surprise. But is adapting to a pandemic really that different? The good news is that proven principles still apply. Read More »
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Covenant Park Integrated Initiatives, Inc.
Founded in 2007, Covenant Park builds large, integrated, complex programs for disaster preparedness and continuity. They provide their capabilities at the highest level of all three branches of the US government and for highly critical, global commercial operations. Covenant Park believes the complexity and interconnectedness of today's world requires an unprecedented level of coordination, analysis and communication to effectively identify and reduce risk. Read More »
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Incident Command System Should Not Be Used For Continuity Of Operations
Let me reiterate, the INCIDENT Command System (ICS) should not be used as the organizational structure to continue operations. No way, no how. I promised a few articles ago I was going to tackle this issue – an issue which has evolved over the last 20 years or so. I will add my theories on why a preponderance of well-intentioned folks have advocated the ICS structure be used as the “logical” (to them) structure to continue the operations of an organization. I believe I speak authoritatively on this having had both feet squarely planted in emergency management and continuity communities over the past 33 years.
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Infrastructure And Resilience --- The New Pride And Prejudice
I was going about my normal business the other day when an article from the Associated Press written by Matthew Daly And Hope Yen, and titled "Lawmakers: Ida damage shows need for infrastructure upgrades" landed in my inbox. I’m one of those weird people that sees “lawmakers” and “infrastructure” in a sentence, and am drawn to it with amused interest. Usually, I am interested academically…a lot of other times as a pure masochist…and still more often than not, like this time, with snarky anticipation. “Oh, what joyous, twisted misinformation do we have here?” The article summarizes quite aptly (kudos to Mr. Daly and Ms. Yen) the rationale applied for the monstrous, record-smashing infrastructure bills being batted about the House and Senate.
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Is Environmental, Social, And Governance (ESG) Activity the New ESP?
Harvard Business Review published (January/February 2021) an article How to Talk to Your CFO About Sustainability written by Tensie Whelan and Elyse Douglas, both associated with the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business. This excellent article opens assuming a universal commitment by corporations to some level of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activity. It further suggests a universal impression most Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) view such commitments as "a cost rather than a source of value." This impression resonated with me as a resilience and risk practitioner.
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QUANTUM RISK - A Geek's Guide to the World of Risk
Every once in a while, someone adds clarifying or new thoughts to an old practice, understanding, or belief. That's why authors and teachers are so plentiful because one can write about the same things using different words, vantage points, or exploratory insights and ideas…the endless beauty of the human experience and depths of cranial imagination. In this context, let me refer you to Mr. Tony Fish and his recent article "Quantum Risk: a wicked problem that emerges at the boundaries of our data dependency". To borrow from a modern day philosopher Forest Gump: I may not be a smart man, but I know what brilliance is. Mr. Fish in my view seems to have quite aptly inserted himself in a discussion between Hawking, Chesterton, Plato, and Aquinas. His article is packed with risk goodness and an expanding universe of understanding risk.
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Resilience Is An Opportunity For Early Bipartisan Success
In the past year Mr. Chuck Chaitovitz, Vice President of Environmental Affairs and Sustainability for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has written two very important and insightful articles advocating a national resiliency agenda...I am adding an expanded perspective of resilience and perhaps drive a broader dialogue. I commend the Chamber for realizing the import of resilience in our economic and business considerations (e.g., general continuity, infrastructure, insurance). I have been advocating resilience for several decades and we need more discourse to move resilience from words to action.
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Resilience Must Be Blind to Catalyst - Part II
If this is the first time you are reading something from me, let me introduce you to a phrase I coined in the early 2000s: "resilience (and continuity) is blind to the catalyst." My oft-repeated comment was to present an alternative to the emergency management foundations that were creeping into the continuity lexicon, whereby contingency planning is typically done with a "commensurate with the hazard" or "capabilities-based" approach. Resilience is and must be viewed with a much higher level of consideration…and NOT limited to specific hazards or capabilities. As I most certainly just ruffled feathers of some of my dearest and most deeply respected emergency management professionals, let me explain.
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Resilience must be Blind to the Catalyst - Part I
On October 29 William Stemper, Forbes Councils Member put forth a thoughtful piece titled Three Steps To Building Resilience Through Technology.The article goes a long ways towards solidifying why resilience has a more urgent place in our businesses. I commend the article to the readers of this post. While Mr. Stemper focuses primarily on technology at his job at Comcast, he tees up some further, more holistic insights. Read More »
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Rock Around The Resilience Wheel - Continuity of Operations Through Disruptive Change
As 2020 comes to a close we are still faced with myriad issues pertaining to public health, elections, economic duress and recovery, unemployment, and living under persistent, pendular change. Resilience has become a popular buzzword to get through these times but is utilized to mean very different things to people looking through very different lenses. Diverse definitions are great but at some point, at some higher and comprehensive perspective, a bow must be put around a common resilience baseline. In layman’s terms, resilience is getting through disruptions and change with some foresight and planning. Resilience matters regardless of the lens you are viewing it through. Covenant Park has coined several catchphrases over our several decades of resilience, risk, continuity, emergency management, security, and national and international planning and execution. Some of those phrases include:
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Semiconductor Chip Shortage --- Or Just Bad Risk Management?
Having a single supplier dependence on a major supply chain item constitutes a basic failure of risk management in today's operating reality. And this lack of foresight can't even be attributed to the "unforeseeable" fallout from the pandemic. The semiconductor industry has always whipsawed between oversupply and undersupply and riding out these curves is a standard part of everyday planning for anyone with significant dependence. Do your job…be resilient. Or learn to accept the consequences of not being prepared and putting investors, reputation, shareholders, and consumers at risk.
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SERVANT LEADERSHIP --- A Challenging Imperative for Lasting Success
Drawing from various models of servant leadership, there is one common theme - it's not about you; it's about others. Servant leadership is not unique to thought leaders, philosophers, military leaders, or sports figures. It is available to all of us. As expressed by Robert K. Greenleaf, a long-time AT&T executive who brought the concept of servant leadership from ancient times to present day, "good leaders must first become good servants." If this concept isn't bound by industry, culture, or demographic, shouldn't we all give it a try? Personal and company success is the byproduct of doing the best we can to make others' lives better.
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Mid Atlantic Disaster Recovery Association (MADRA) to Host Black Sky Seminar
Given increasing threats to America’s critical infrastructure and a proposed infrastructure bill to address those threats, the Mid Atlantic Disaster Recovery Association (MADRA) will be hosting virtual meeting on August 19. The speaker at the meeting will be Mary D. Lasky, Chairman of the InfraGard National Disaster Resilience Council and BC Program Manager at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Lasky will outline the impacts of these threats that are also known as "Black Sky" events.
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