The culture of your business or organization will continue to be the
root cause of many of your most substantial successes. Simultaneously,
it will be one of the most significant factors in your potential
downfall as a company. Operational Risk Management (ORM) professionals
at Wells Fargo and Booz Allen Hamilton, are still dissecting all of the
evidence of their respective events.
"Managing Risk to Ensure Intelligence Advantage" is a theme that you may not have heard before, unless you are in the Intelligence Community. There is one key principle that is worth emphasizing again at this point in time:
Putting scrutiny to your work by others to review, is the beginning of new found discovery and transparency insight. It is the foundation for building a more trusted operating environment, with as little bias as you can possibly have in a culture. When an organization spins of out of control and becomes the latest case study on an Operational Risk failure event, you must learn from it. Wells Fargo is just one recent example:
Some consumers may be shying away from Wells Fargo after learning that employees used customers’ information to open sham accounts, according to new figures reported by the bank.
The nation’s largest retail bank beat expectations when it reported more than $5.6 billion in profit for the past three months. But the bank’s earnings report also hinted that the Wells Fargo may have some trouble convincing people to open new accounts in the wake of the scandal.
The number of checking accounts the bank opened in September fell by 25 percent from the same time last year, the company reported
Whether you are in the international banking and finance business, the defense industrial base or any other set of critical infrastructure institutions that public citizens are counting on, there is no room for a runaway culture. Consider this definition:
scrutiny
noun, plural scrutinies.
1. a searching examination or investigation; minute inquiry.
2. surveillance; close and continuous watching or guarding.
3. a close and searching look.
You see, the integrity and longevity of your "Trust Decisions" begins with the sharing of relevant information. Sharing that information with your most trusted and significant partners is the start. The beginning of a dialogue with people in your culture who continuously review the information, the new strategy. This begins the ongoing process. It is now time for others to look at your idea, your strategy, your policy rule, from their perspective. From their knowledge-base. To scrutinize it. To analyze it. To make sense of it for them and those affected by it.
The truth is, you don't have all the understanding and you don't have all of the ecosystem knowledge. You don't have the entire data set, to know if the specific work you have been doing is sound and correct. That the new work you have designed, is culturally and morally acceptable. That the outcomes of your project will produce the results imagined. That the strategy and the work, is the right thing to do at this point in time.
So how do you change? It begins with your next management meeting and beyond. If you are the leader, the manager, the director, the Vice-President or the CxO start now. Ask for scrutiny on your proposed strategy. Gain new insight and understanding. Ask for feedback and changes to make it better. Your power in the culture and its impact is your greatest weakness. Your people will follow you, unless you challenge them to think differently...
"Managing Risk to Ensure Intelligence Advantage" is a theme that you may not have heard before, unless you are in the Intelligence Community. There is one key principle that is worth emphasizing again at this point in time:
Ensure all work is subject to scrutiny. Require conflict of interest-free peer review for all programs, projects and strategies.This principle, that shall become pervasive across the culture of the organization, is imperative for several reasons. The first is, that a culture really is a manifestation of the people and the behaviors that are normal in the organization. The second is, that the culture shall strive to be a true mosaic of the best thinking and ideas from all the key stakeholders in the enterprise. Not just one or two people from the top or a singular department.
Putting scrutiny to your work by others to review, is the beginning of new found discovery and transparency insight. It is the foundation for building a more trusted operating environment, with as little bias as you can possibly have in a culture. When an organization spins of out of control and becomes the latest case study on an Operational Risk failure event, you must learn from it. Wells Fargo is just one recent example:
Some consumers may be shying away from Wells Fargo after learning that employees used customers’ information to open sham accounts, according to new figures reported by the bank.
The nation’s largest retail bank beat expectations when it reported more than $5.6 billion in profit for the past three months. But the bank’s earnings report also hinted that the Wells Fargo may have some trouble convincing people to open new accounts in the wake of the scandal.
The number of checking accounts the bank opened in September fell by 25 percent from the same time last year, the company reported
Whether you are in the international banking and finance business, the defense industrial base or any other set of critical infrastructure institutions that public citizens are counting on, there is no room for a runaway culture. Consider this definition:
scrutiny
noun, plural scrutinies.
1. a searching examination or investigation; minute inquiry.
2. surveillance; close and continuous watching or guarding.
3. a close and searching look.
You see, the integrity and longevity of your "Trust Decisions" begins with the sharing of relevant information. Sharing that information with your most trusted and significant partners is the start. The beginning of a dialogue with people in your culture who continuously review the information, the new strategy. This begins the ongoing process. It is now time for others to look at your idea, your strategy, your policy rule, from their perspective. From their knowledge-base. To scrutinize it. To analyze it. To make sense of it for them and those affected by it.
The truth is, you don't have all the understanding and you don't have all of the ecosystem knowledge. You don't have the entire data set, to know if the specific work you have been doing is sound and correct. That the new work you have designed, is culturally and morally acceptable. That the outcomes of your project will produce the results imagined. That the strategy and the work, is the right thing to do at this point in time.
So how do you change? It begins with your next management meeting and beyond. If you are the leader, the manager, the director, the Vice-President or the CxO start now. Ask for scrutiny on your proposed strategy. Gain new insight and understanding. Ask for feedback and changes to make it better. Your power in the culture and its impact is your greatest weakness. Your people will follow you, unless you challenge them to think differently...
