#607 organizational winter

Last week, the schools in Houston were closed because it was 28 degrees and snow was forecast.  That story made the rounds at work, since in Iowa it was -1 degrees, with feet of snow on the ground, and, of course, we were having business as usual.

I think about the infrastructure that we have in Iowa to basically allow us to persevere through these harsh Midwest winters.  Individuals, businesses and communities own the tools, equipment and clothes to deal with the snow and move on.  People own four-wheel drive vehicles or put Blizzak tires on their cars.  Cities own salt trucks and it seems that every pickup truck in the city has a plow to clean the parking lots of area businesses.  Most people don't like the winter, but they have the capacity to deal with it and move on.

Cities like Houston, or even as far north as St. Louis, have minimal equipment and are paralyzed with much less snow or frigid air.

In your organizational world, what is the equivalent of five inches of snow?  Do you have contingency plans, equipment and infrastructure to allow you to continue operating when "winter" hits?  Or maybe you are in a zone where "snow" occurs with such infrequency that you have chosen to accept the consequences rather than prepare for a rare event.

Maybe "five inches of snow" for you is a deadline, when you know you need extra staff and computing capacity to handle the excessive loads.  Maybe your "winter" is a home sporting event, where tourism demands and parking issues double when the team is in town.  Maybe you need to be prepared for when new technology changes are rolled out and everything must be updated.

Everyone is assessing their risks and taking action accordingly.  Iowa is betting that their investment in multiple plows and mountains of salt will be a wise use of community resources; Houston is prepared to cancel school and lose some productivity if the temperature makes an extraordinary dip.  

Think about the threats you face and evaluate the cost of being prepared -- or not.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

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