Flawless Compliance

Strength from Within

A Haitian Disaster Brings an Invaluable Lesson in Resilience

On January 12th at 4:53pm, the capital city of Haiti was struck by the strongest earthquake it has seen since 1770. Picture Source

How much damage can a 7.0 earthquake cause? The answer really depends on how prepared you are. As you know, Haiti just experienced one of these, and the impact is devastating; the current death toll is reported at nearly 170,000 human lives. The Haitians that survive will be altered for life.

When the two million residents of Porte-au-Prince, Haiti woke up on the morning of January 12, 2010 they had no idea what was in store for them later in the day. At 4:53 pm, the strongest earthquake since 1770 was about to wreak havoc on the gulf harbor, and country capital city. What the people of Haiti would have to endure was unconscionable.

Many that weren’t killed immediately would face the ultimate challenge; a contest with the elements, paying the ultimate consequence for losing the battle. When the quake struck, a small five-year old boy was instructed by his parents to stay quietly in a plastic crate and await rescue. They assured him that everything was going to be okay. The young boy did as instructed, waiting patiently, but nobody came. Day after day passed, the boy didn’t move. Now several days had gone by, his body had grown weak, and his will was fading; did anybody out there know he was there? Was he ever going to be rescued?

As the days passed, I can only imagine what was going through the young boy’s mind. Only his innocence protected his delicate psychology. Without the “benefit” of experience, he didn’t know what to be afraid of. All he knew was obedience; he did as his parents had told him, and he stood still in a crate—for eight long days.
Day eight was the final day of the battle, and the amazing young boy had overcome. Day eight was the day his rescue team anxiously pulled the child from the rubble and immediately administered much needed medical care. And just like mom and dad had promised, everything was going to be okay.

With great fortune, the young boy is on the road to physical recovery; however his life is changed forever. At a very young age, he has acquired an acute awareness of how much can be endured. He knows that deep within his soul is the strength to overcome any obstacles that will face him in the future. He will live life on his terms, unafraid of the many additional challenges that will come his way.

Resilience is the upside of disaster—if you allow it.

I hope you’re company is never faced with a catastrophic impact, but if it happens you must rejoice in the upside. Let’s face it, nothing’s guaranteed. You can put the best compliance program in the world, and still get pummeled by a highly publicized data breach, or an inside attack by a disgruntled system administrator. These things happen.

What’s important is how you recover from it. You can choose to feel victimized and unlucky, or you can choose to be more resilient going forward. It’s up to you. Don’t allow misfortune to shape your future. If a five-year old can survive for eight days in a crate under a pile of rubble, you can move on with building a better compliance program than before.

Last Call for Proactive Thinking

How to Build an Effective Compliance Strategy

Setting your compliance strategy is the most imporant thing you can do this year. Have you addressed it yet?

Wow, can you believe one month of the year has already come and gone? Didn’t that go by quick? So, my question is, have you addressed your compliance strategy yet this year? If not, it’s about time!

Strategy is one of the most important things you can do for your compliance program, but it’s often overlooked. Reason being, compliance always seems to be an after-thought in the organization—a follower. The astute compliance officer however, will recognize that effective strategic planning is the hallmark of a compliance program that’s proactive, and in control.

There’s a lot of confusion, even at the C-level, over exactly what strategy is. Let’s get that clear now.

Compliance strategy is the framework used to guide the decision making process for the entire program. Strategy is not planning, although it’s closely related. A good strategy is built by asking powerful questions. When your strategy is complete, you’ll be able to answer the following questions:

• What are the current economic trends, and what risks will they introduce? For instance, what new risks will this less-than-flourishing economy bring on the horizon?
• What are the current social trends, and what risks will they introduce? The baby boomers are getting older and retiring, while Generation Y is migrating into the workforce. What sort of risks will they bring with them?
• What are the current government trends, and what risks will they introduce? This is a somewhat obvious one, but what do you think the current administration will do with its continued focus on increased oversight and regulation? How will that affect your compliance efforts in the coming months?
• What are the current technological trends, and what risks will they introduce? The rapid popularity of social media is continuing to introduce new and improved privacy concerns. How do you think that will affect you in the coming year?
• Are we anticipating any changes in our supply chain, and are there any new risks associated with that? A new supplier might bring a new set of compliance standards to deal with. Have you considered this?
• Are we targeting any new customer segments, or perhaps large customers? Will those customers come with any risks?
• What is the corporate strategy, and what risks will it introduce? This is perhaps the most important question you need to ask yourself. Get intimate with your corporate strategy. Your job is to protect them for what they are not considering. Are they moving into government sales? If so, you have a lot of compliance ahead of you! Are they planning to leverage cloud computing? If so, what kinds of risks does that introduce?
  

Answering the right questions for your compliance program will put you in proactive mode, instead of reactive mode. Proactive compliance organizations are more resilient, have the opportunity to install preventive controls instead of adaptive or corrective controls, and significantly reduce the exposure for their parent organization. If you haven’t yet addressed your compliance strategy, take some time today to answer these questions. It’s not too late to start the year off on the right foot, with a good compliance strategy.