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palletcentral.com PalletCentral • March-April 2016 19 Consider a categorization of the most common organizational blind spots into four major categories: "incomprehensible;" "ought to know better;" "possible but unlikely;" and "something about this doesn't feel right." By looking at the risks in these four areas and following the suggestions for addressing them, you can help ensure your organization's prosperous future. Blind Spot #1: Incomprehensible. There are a whole host of disastrous events that seem almost incomprehensible until they happen to you. These disasters can be natural or man-made, local or global. For example, computer viruses and malware are a worldwide risk to most every company today. They can bring down IT operations and effectively put you out of business. Fortunately, preventive software is available to protect you against problems of this sort. In some instances, your risk exposure might be particular to where you're located and what business you are in. Over the past few decades, meteorologists have charted a vast increase in the number and strength of severe weather events such as hurricanes, droughts and flooding: Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans; Hurricane Sandy (the superstorm) caused floods that destroyed buildings and wiped out roads in the Northeast; droughts blighted the Midwest and West. These are all vivid examples of natural disasters that can cripple a business. The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is an example of a man-made disaster with a wide reach that extended well beyond the shoreline. If you were a fish wholesaler in the Midwest who sourced the product from the Gulf, you were impacted. It is important to recognize that your business doesn't have to be at the mercy of events like these. The first step is to brainstorm potential scenarios and the likelihood of each one. Then based on the company's attitude toward risk, develop a conscious response to each situation. Responses can range from doing nothing (accepting the risk), to taking preventive measures, securing insurance or putting backup plans in place. With foresight, planning and commitment, you can shine a light on these "incomprehensible" blind spots and position yourself for success. Blind Spot #2: Ought to know better. Checking for blind spots in this area requires you to look inward to ascertain whether your company is behaving ethically or not. Competitive and financial pressures often push us to take shortcuts to squeeze the last dollar out of everything we do. But we need to step back, look at what we are doing and apply the standard of the Golden Rule to our treatment of customers and others who are downstream from us. The case of "liar" loans in the mortgage industry is a perfect example. Although financial institutions require certain income levels for specific loan amounts, during the last phase of the real estate bubble some lenders would wink and let the applicant know that the amount of income would not be verified. This practice set up an increase in loan defaults because the bank didn't perform its due diligence. But those banks didn't care, because they would get the loans off their books by selling them to another financial institution. The second financial institution also didn't care, because they "securitized" the loans and sold shares to unsuspecting consumers. These practices were unethical, but most financial institutions had a blind spot because "finance" had come to represent "gaming" the system rather than providing a service to a client. Other everyday examples include weight scales that over report or expenses that are padded. Is your company gaming the system to the detriment of customers or others? It takes courage to step back and look at your "ought to know better" blind spots. Blind Spot #3: Possible but unlikely. This is the land of the sacred cows. From a geopolitical perspective, Greece fits the bill. Who would have imagined the possibility of a European country going bankrupt? Business examples include the loss of large long-time customers or unexpected shifts in the marketplace. Think back on Google prominent computer-maker Digital Equipment, whose mid-sized computer, the VAX, was its sacred cow. Digital (or DEC) was enormously profitable for 30 years; however, its blind spot caused it to miss the coming of the PC. A victim of its own success, Digital did not survive. Uncovering potential blind spots will allow your company to sur vive and thrive well into the future. iStockphoto.com/BrianAJackson