As a child, I remember walking through the tunnel connecting East Boston to Boston holding my breath. Absurd behavior? Sure, but in my mind I was preparing for the moment when the tunnel would run out of air. A friend told me that as a child he taught himself to write with his left hand even though he was right-handed. His reason was that he wanted to be sure he could write even if something happened to his right hand.
Emergency planning, disaster recovery – These topics have been in the news a lot lately in the United States. Without realizing it, I did it when I was a kid, but it’s not a topic that I like to think about as an adult. In fact I avoid it !! As an AT&T account executive, one of my responsibilities was to make sure my clients had disaster recovery plans in place. Everybody wants their phone to work no matter what. And yet it was not something my clients wanted to address. Many thought the possibility was too remote. Others had too many projects on the table that they said had priority.
It is difficult for an estate planning attorney to convince someone that they need a will. It is only when something happens in a person’s life, a serious illness or death, that suddenly what was in the background comes to the fore. Only when something terrible happens do we suddenly realize that it is important to plan for an emergency. When Terry Schiavo made the news, many who did not have health care proxies took the opportunity to sign one.
After Hurricane Katrina, all of a sudden, people are now considering contingency planning. Governments have also faced challenges when it comes to contingency planning. If there are disaster recovery plans, I suppose few thought about the possibility that everyone would have to evacuate their homes. If there were evacuation plans, they would most likely have ended up with everyone going to a public building. Who would have considered taking people out of the area entirely?
Katrina has been a terrible event for all of us. However, looking at the lessons and making our plans accordingly is extremely important. So one lesson that I know I’ve learned is that I want to make sure that federal, state, and local governments have really clear plans that are coordinated with each other. I also want to know about these plans because I have a responsibility to myself, my family and my business.
However, thinking about this, I feel uncomfortable with my own planning. What do I do in the event of a disaster? I can feel my own resistance even thinking about it! Several months ago my group of masterminds was talking about backing up your computer files. One member of the group actually took his backup disk elsewhere to make sure that if a fire or flood hit his office he would still have his files. That really impressed me and I started to think about it for myself. The possibility seemed remote then, but I certainly see the point now.
What are your plans for your business, for yourself and your loved ones? Why not start putting together your own disaster plan now?