Risk Management During a Coup

By John Mason

Many employers have overseas locations; a former employer of mine does. My team was at such a location conducting an audit when a violent and bloody military coup occurred; so now there’s a new government, right, in the far-off capital with most of the same rules? Yes and no. Most of the rules do seem to be the same but with a few additional ones (e.g. the person pointing the M-16 or AK-47 at you wins the argument). Too, the coup has started in YOUR location, just a few blocks away—and now the Operations Manager storms into the conference room to tell you that they are not sure how to get you back to the hotel, since the parking lot is halfway between you and the battle zone. They discuss the possibility that they will have to make you walk on the roof to get to a different part of the building while they try to bring the car.

Eventually (miraculously?), the staff gets you back to the hotel. You’re safe—well, at least until army trucks arrive at the front of the hotel and disgorge about 50-100 troops. Surprise! The coup leader has decided to stay at your hotel tonight! Visions of restaurant servers and housekeeping staff taking up arms in a counterrevolt dance through the air. And what of the confidential information stored in your briefcase or computer? Is someone going to search your room and seize it? Should you delete the work and hope for the best or do you wait it out to see what will happen? When will the coup leader leave? What are the chances of getting out safely?

Risk. Yes, we hear about it, work with it, and handle it most every day, whether consciously or not as we go about our jobs and work with others. Yet, how does one handle or address risk when it’s up close and personal? Sometimes there are a variety of choices, and other times there does not appear to be any alternative to the current solution set (though with the latter, I fully subscribe to the empty set being a set and thus an alternative). The process of “thinking outside the box” or “putting oneself outside the box” is frequently much harder than it seems when the risk is staring one in the face (and fear, buried or on the surface, is a factor as well).

To be continued….

Last Week’s Quiz Question:

Name either of the two Vermont towns that is also the name of a foreign capital (Note: Moscow, Vermont is not a town, just a location).

Answer: Athens, Berlin

Winner: Gil Verney Jr., who won an Information Assurance Practitioner Beanie Baby.

This Week’s Quiz Question:

What Vermont family is known for producing Olympic ski champions and runs a low cost ski hill behind their home?

The winner receives A Norwich University t-shirt with the message “My mother went to Residency and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.”

Submit all answers to John Orlando at jorlando@norwich.edu