Agile Business Continuity

Cargo Cults were created as tribal cultures were exposed to technologically advanced explorers. One of the last surviving examples is the John Frum Movement on Tanna island which is part of the Republic of Vanuatu. A characteristic feature of cargo cults is the belief that spirits will gift cargo and valuable products to cult members at some point in the future. The cult members repeat the actions of the technologically advanced cultures in order to encourage the spirits return. For example, on Tanna the cult has built replica landing strips, complete with wooden radio towers and wooden airplanes in order to entice the return of the spirits.

A cargo cult creates a situation where effort and ceremony takes place but goes unrewarded due to an underlying flaw in their logic. If you spend your time writing continuity plans, you may very well be falling into the same trap. The ceremony of writing and maintaining a continuity plan is comforting but only really delivers a document. As many continuity co-ordinators have discovered the plan is just a step along the road to delivering a more resilient organisation.

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1. Continuity Dashboard – Measuring Resilience Part 2
2. Location Location Location
3. The Purpose of Business Continuity
4. Tick Box Testing
5. What Every Executive Wants For Christmas