A recent blog addressed the personal qualities most useful to an effective Business Continuity Management Team member. The article prompted a question regarding whether the first trait on the list “Someone who has a good grasp of how your organization works” was not specific enough. The questioner asked whether experience in the particular industry was at least as – if not more – valuable than understanding the inner workings of the organization.
An interesting question – and probably not one I’m qualified to answer. I’m not a sociologist nor have I any empirical data to back a conclusion. But I do have an opinion: and I’m not afraid to offer it.
My answer is no. A background in the specific industry is not a requirement. It could certainly be helpful. But experience an the industry does not guarantee success as a BCM leader.
Where does specific Industry experience provide an ‘edge’?:
- Understanding industry jargon
The use of acronyms, jargon and buzzwords is often so pervasive that a new participant in a meeting might get the impression everyone is speaking a foreign language. Understanding industry (and cultural) jargon can cut through that verbal haze – but so will asking for clarification when a term or acronym is not clear.
- Understanding the intricacies of regulatory requirements
In a highly-regulated industry there is value in a thorough knowledge of those regulatory requirements (at least as they apply to Business Continuity). But that doesn’t mean that someone with a Compliance background will automatically make a great Business Continuity Manager.
What business acumen makes a great BCM professional?
- Making sense of business interrelationships
There is a certain type of thinking – an ability to find the logic in a something, and the illogic when it appears – that is highly desirable in a BCM professional. Knowing the difference is the real value. Without that ability, a BC Manager is often little more than a scribe writing down what he or she is told. The ability to grasp how an organization functions at both macro-and micro levels and grasp the interdependencies among critical business operations is a talent – and a critical one for a BCM professional.
- Questioning conventional wisdom
Standards should provide as guidance – not as shackles. Audit findings should be helpful, not limiting. Regulatory requirements are filtered through individual perceptions. A good BCM practitioner is a leader, not a follower. Questioning policies, practices and pronouncements assures they truly add value. No BCM professional should be timid.
- Challenging “We’ve always done it that way”
“Because” is not a fact. Existence, repetition, structures, strategies may all exist because that’s the way things are done. That doesn’t make them right (or even logical). “Why” should always be at the front of a BC Manager’s mind. If the answer is “because”, they must probe. Sometimes ‘because’ is just a mask for the real reason; sometime it is a lack of reason. The ability – and willingness – to ‘kick holes’ in things (because they need to be kicked) is a valuable trait.
- Distinguishing Complexity from Complication
The larger an organization becomes, the greater its complexity. The London Underground schedule is complex – but can be understood with a little diligence. The US Income Tax code is complicated – no individual understands it. A good BCM practitioner can tell the difference between complexity and complication – and avoids the latter like the Ebola virus.
Experience in a specific industry might eliminate the need to climb up the learning curve to understand its operations and the industry jargon. But an industry insider without the ability to comprehend internal interdependencies, challenge widely-held conventions and sort the complex from the complicated won’t be successful as a Business Continuity professional.
