Over the years, we've facilitated problem solving sessions focused on business continuity assurance for things as diverse as Y2K, competitive disruption, and cyberterroism. What we've learned is useful even at the family emergency planning level. So, if you want to apply some innovative thinking get yourself through the murkey swamp of this current influenza threat, they key is to follow the process below. If you've got an organization that needs to do this, and you want help, we're easy to find.
Set yourself a goal: Something like "It would be great if we could come through the current crisis as unscathed and healthy as possible"
Gather data: Explore the facts, opinions and dynamics around this current crisis. With respect to pandemic planning, we've learned to trust the following resources as frank, accurate, and not constrained by political considerations:
What to do as a community and family: http://www.getpandemicready.org/
Accurate scientific explanations: http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/
Well vetted news updates: http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/
Deeper Planning Resources: www.fluwikie.com
And how to communicate to people looking to you for guidance: http://www.psandman.com/col/panflu4-2.htm
Keep in mind that much of the planning work that has been done over the last 4 years was with the educated guess that our next pandemic might arise from an H5N1 virus, the so-called bird flu. While that could still happen, all of the thinking applies equally to the current challenge, H1N1 popularized as "swine flu"
Clarify your Challenges: After you've done a bit of learning, make yourself a nice soothing drink and diverge a list of all of the challenges you see that you need to face. Remember to use "question language" . Prioritize the problems and begin to...
Generate Ideas:To solve the most time critical problems in your list, then decide which ideas you will implement.
Strengthen your Plan: By getting another brain or three on your strategy. Together, you might use the POINt tool to help you make it more robust, and perhaps share in responsibility for implementation as you...
Plan for Action: By organizing the tasks, whether it's shopping for your family or communicating with employees such that the right people are on the right task.
Feeling Stressed?
For many folks, especially if you're new to this kind of frank planning, and especially under what may feel like a crisis at the moment, this can be disconcerting. Trust the process! Slice the work up as we've described, and you'll do a lot better than pretending the worst can't happen, or gluing your nose to your internet interface to see what the latest news is. If you want to do some facilitated planning, call us for help. If you're feeling a bit stressed out by all of this, take a look at an article we wrote on stress and coping strategies a while back. We've also seen people go through the predictible phases of something called an "adjustment reaction" to crisis communication, and think you might get some benefit by understanding that it is normal and what to expect.
Read about that here: http://www.psandman.com/col/teachable.htm
If you make plans that are not proprietary, and want others to get the vicarious benefit of your effort, post your plan somewhere and send us a link to it which we will post here.
You can see a further example of how we've done this here:
http://www.newandimproved.com/newsletter/2000.php
Always remember the Innovators Credo: Honest dialogue and an openness to learning when combined with good creative process will lead to the best solutions to any problem!
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