Business
In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses the Plan Do Check Act Cycle in your Business Continuity Program. Topics discussed include the Plan Do Check Act Cycle, how the PDCA Cycle connects to the ISO 22301 Standard (and others), and how you can use the PDCA cycle to mature and improve your business continuity program. Related Episodes & Blog Posts Blog Post: A look at the new ISO 22317 Standard for Business Impact Analysis (BIA) Blog Post: Using ISO 22301 to Evaluate your Business Continuity Program Blog Post: Plan-Do-Check-Act and your Business Continuity Program Episode #110: Is your BC Program ready for the next disruption? Episode #121: Metrics for Success in your Business Continuity Program ASQ: What is the Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) Cycle? Lean Enterprise Institute: Plan, Do, Check, Act Episode Transcript Hello, and Welcome to the Managing Uncertainty Podcast. This is Bryan Strawser, Principal and Chief Executive here at Bryghtpath, and in this week’s episode of our podcast, I’d like to talk about the Plan Do Check Act Cycle in your Business Continuity Program. And I want to start by talking about the Law of Aggregate Marginal Gain. As this theory goes, many tiny improvements can add up to huge wins over time. In the case of the British Cycling Team from many years ago, the small acclimation of tiny improvements, such as improved hand-washing, new massage gels and pillows, and minor changes to their bike ergonomics were credited for their wildly successful performance at the 2012 Tour de France, and then the London Olympics. For the rest of us, a more practical example of this theory in action might be parking at the far end of the parking lot, taking the stairs, and then skipping dessert to shed a few more pounds over the course of the year. Or if savings are your goal, ditching your drive-through coffee every morning, packing your lunch, and collecting your change can quickly propel your savings efforts into appreciable gains. In theory, the Law of Aggregate Marginal Gain seems like a foolproof and nearly effortless way to accomplish big things. So how is that then the average 20 something has less than $10,000 in retirement savings? And am I the only person here with a step-tracking smartwatch, I use an Apple Watch, who has yet to fit back into my size 34 jeans that I wore in high school? There’s endless explanations for why as humans we find it hard to make progress towards our goals, whether it’s losing weight or saving money, or making strides in our business. When it comes to organizational resiliency, one of the common problems I see is just not having a good system for implementing and improving maturing your Business Continuity Program. Ad hoc efforts, in my experience, lead to ad hoc results. Opportunities for improvement will slip through the cracks in your program quietly and unimpressively just manage to subsist. It’s not exactly your dream scenario, especially considering the ramifications of being unprepared for the next disruption that your company will face. Meaningful improvem