Not really clutter
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Statues, vacuums, bunnies, The Stooges, and ship's salvage
By JOHN GLENN, CRP
Certified Business Continuity Planner
In my upstairs office you will find, among the clutter,
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a small statue of Rodan's Thinker, and the box in which it came
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the upstairs Hoover vacuum
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Franklin, a Polish dwarf rabbit who occasionally forgets where he left his
litter box
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several pictures of The Three Stooges
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a Station Bill from the SS Export Commerce
Strangely, each of these relate directly to business continuity planning.
Before you write me off as a candidate to become the fourth Stooge (actually the
seventh, but who's counting), let me explain.
The Thinker
Rodan's famous Thinker statue is almost ubiquitous.
To me, it has two meanings.
First, as you recall, I wrote that I kept the box in which the Thinker
statuette (I have a small office) was delivered.
The Thinker is, since it is on my desk, outside the box, which is, I
contend, how a Business Continuity planner must think - outside
the box. The planner must be able to conjure up "what if" scenarios
that no one else can, or wants, to consider.
Case in point: I have been considering the potential aircraft accidents for years.
I never anticipated a terrorist attack from the air, but I did anticipate an aircraft
accident.
It really makes no difference if the event is accidental or deliberate; the result is
the same.
Earlier I wrote that the Thinker statue is "almost ubiquitous."
"Ubiquitous" reminds me of Ace Jackson, an IT guru and Subject Matter Expert
(SME) to whom I turn from time to time.
Ace was amused by my generic list of risks which always included "ubiquitous
other." These are risks that are plan-specific.
As an example, I once worked with a company that used Class A explosives.
I've worked for a lot of companies, but only one used big-bang explosives. TNT is
something normally missing from a planner's "risk check list." The "ubiquitous
others" are things discovered when talking to the business' SMEs.
Hoover - the vacuum, not the president or dam
The Hoover - almost synonymous with "vacuum" - cleaner does
double function.
It's basic job is to clean the carpet.
But it's Business Continuity-related task is to remind me that Business
Continuity plans never succeed when they are created in a vacuum.
Business Continuity planners must depend on information from
others.
The planner may be an "expert" in a specific field - I could be an
expert in HP 3000s running a particular Oracle application - but I am
not necessarily an expert in the way you run your HP 3000 or your
Oracle application. The only thing I will tell you with any certainty is
"make certain all the (security) patches are installed."
This planner, at least, expects the people who do a function or use a resource on
a daily basis to know what they do and why they do it. The users are the real
Subject matter Experts, not this planner.
I am the SME for planning. Period.
As I look at the Hoover heading (Hoover - the vacuum, not the ... dam) I realize
the vacuum in the corner serves still another purpose; to remind me that, unlike
the dam, I should not hold anything back.
Not from my client, even if the news is not what he or she wants to hear and
even if I know the client will "kill the messenger" (cancel the contract). I have a
professional obligation to my client, but more importantly, I have a professional
obligation to myself.
Not from other planners, either, which is why I love the Internet; it gives me a way
to share what I know and to learn from others what I don't know.
Franklin, "the" rabbit
Franklin, who shares quarters with me, is a pretty good pet. Although he "barks"
and "crunches" - I think he has TMJ - his noises are sotto voce. He demands a
certain amount of attention (usually fighting my feet as I sit at the computer,
reminding me that I should pet him a little more), but he's not difficult.
Frankie reminds me that without training, Business Continuity plans are
worthless.
Frankie is trained to use his litter box. But sometimes, when he is frustrated, or
my daughter has "introduced" him to her latest beau, or simply when he plays too
long, he "forgets" where he left his litter box.
Since we share space, my Spouse trained me to clean up after "that rotten
rabbit."
Which, in the Business Continuity context, reminds me of the importance of
training, training, and more training.
A fellow planner, Doug Kelly had (at my instigation) a lop-eared rabbit named
Tilly, as in "you tilly rabbit." (When you have kids who watch cartoons . . . )
Tilly tended to get into trouble from time-to-time, doing "rabbit" things such as
chewing on electrical cords. Doug decided to train Tilly to eschew chewing the
cords so he bought a water pistol and "shot" Tilly when she misbehaved. Rabbits
hate water. I don't know if Tilly ever associated being squirted with the electrical
cord, but Doug did try to train her.
As with Franklin and Tilly, training must be continuous and it must be tailored
to the audience.
The Stooges - 3, 4, 5, & 6
If I can make a rabbit into a Business Continuity accessory, it should be easy to
do the same for the Stooges.
It is.
The Stooges1 showed us - as did other comics - that "whatever can go wrong,
will."
Business Continuity planners know that no plan is perfect "the first time out."
That is why we exercise the plan. (I could have used an exercise machine as a
reminder of this, but anyone who knows me knows that to me, "exercise" is a
"four-letter word." You simply won't find an exercise machine in my house.)
Plan exercises and training are pretty much the same thing - in both cases the
planner is looking for holes in the plan and is trying to make responses to
incidents as "automatic" as possible.
If you want to split hairs (but please, not hares), the "exercise" includes
everything from walk-through and tabletop simulations to "throwing the switch."
Training is something that is done in response to an event - e.g. clearing a
building, using work-around tools, confirming the back-up site really can provide
the backup.
The bottom line for both exercises and training is to make certain to eliminate as
many of the "got-cha's" as possible.
Remember, just as the Stooges never got it right the first time, a Business
Continuity plan never is 100% the first time it is exercised. Don't panic. Don't fret.
Improve the plan.
Station bill
The Station Bill was salvaged from the SS Export Commerce, a cargo vessel
that went to scrap near my Norfolk VA office.
Poking around the many "antique" stores in Norfolk - we call'em "secondhand
stores" in Clearwater FL where I also hang my hat - I found the chart that
basically tells selected members of the crew what to do in case of fire or man
overboard.
To a Business Continuity planner, it looks very much like instructions to a
Disaster Recovery Team.
So you see, as strange as some of my visuals may seem, each is integral to
Business Continuity planning.
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A statue and the box in which it came
A vacuum cleaner
A rabbit
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• The Three Stooges
• A Station Bill from the SS Export Commerce
Visual aids for a Business Continuity planner.
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John Glenn, CRP, is a certified Business Continuity planner who has been helping Fortune 100s and State
government agencies develop plans since 1994. Comments about this or other John Glenn articles may be
sent to JGlennCRP@yahoo.com .
(c) 2002, John Glenn CRP