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- AgileBCP – favorite feature number 5 – a comprehensive and integrated workflow.
AgileBCP is a tool which supports all nine elements of this comprehensive and integrated workflow.
- AgileBCP – favorite feature number 4 – comprehensive, incisive information about critical resources.
AgileBCP uses a ‘5 P’ heuristic with 3 questions informing each P.
Yes, that’s fifteen questions 😂
- AgileBCP – favorite feature number 3 – a structure focused on purpose.
The AgileBCP database maps what is needed to achieve required objectives. Yes, it’s as simple as that 😂
- AgileBCP – favorite feature number 2 – using ‘risk’ as a lens into future uncertainties
In the real world, there are no silver bullets (magic, single-dose solutions) 
AgileBCP is a great tool – but it is not a ‘silver bullet’ We recognize that risk is a concept.
It is a useful concept as it helps us get a better handle on future uncertainties.
The AgileBCP risk lens can (and should) be applied BEFORE a disruption event – and AFTER a disruption event.
Before event risk is a function of resource criticality and vulnerability (to impact) 
After event risk is a function of resource criticality (which should be validated) and impact (on operability). Nature’s warning color – red – is used to stimulate discussion. A ‘red flag’ calls for serious and immediate considerations. Orange – important but probably not immediate, Yellow – cautionary and needing to be watched closely, Green – sound but still keep an eye on it.
Color coding drives the conversation. Risk puts on notice the need for conversations about what ought to be done – and what does not need to be done. Indeed the only reason for risk assessment is in order to inform action – or inaction. Risk assessment has no inherent merit. It ought not to be academic. Risk exists, as a concept, in order to inform decisions.
Once a decision is made, any implementation plan(s) should be kept as long as necessary but as short as possible. Specifying what needs to be done and what is needed to do it. Implementation plans are then supported by standard management practices of monitoring the achievement of the required outcomes by ensuring the plans are on track, on budget, and on time.
- AgileBCP – favourite feature number 1 – risk criteria
As we enter our finalising stages of our User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for the AgileBCP software platform, it’s time to let the cat out of the bag on some key features.
First, for the things you care about, our Business Continuity algorithm focuses on criticality (to operability) and vulnerability (to impact).
Central to our thinking is the appreciation that criteria based considerations provide a robust stimulation to good decision making.
An added feature is the capability to tailor the criteria to align with your values.
- Improving governance – a note to CEOs
Today I made my “YourOughtWe decision-making app” available.
I think it is a useful tool to support better decisions.
It addresses several of the key needs being voiced across our community.
People in South Australia are not alone in calling for better decision-making
(Ref Advertiser, Oct 2021)
National agendas are focused on the need for better decision making 
State agendas recognize the value of better decision making 
If you want your “governance people” to look at my offer please share this note and direct them to YourOghtWe description and YourOughtWe example
- Comes with a caution …
I was sitting quietly in the corner at the party – enjoying watching people catch up with each other.
He quietly came over and sat down next to me.
“G’day mate, what you been up to?” said the friend of long-standing who I had not seen for many years.
So I gave him the short version of transferring my thinking into software – such as the OughtWe Decision Maker.
He paused, reflected, smiled ruefully and said two things.
– “how many consulting gigs have you done where the situation is appreciated in the first briefing?“
– “given what you know about how the world works, how the hell do you think this app – which has embedded elements of transparency, rigour, and accountability – is going to sell?”
Hmmm … good point.
So be warned We all have difficult decisions in life.
I still think it’s worth basing them on facts, assessing the available information, and reviewing options with rigour.
Therefore I offer you the OughtWe Decision Maker for your consideration.
It might be one of your best “one dollar buys”.
- Hindsight and Foresight
I’m sure there are quite a few old sayings about “hindsight always being useful to learn from – but foresight being better to not have to“. Sage.
I was reminded of the value of foresight in a recent conversation on LinkedIn. Reflecting on the essence of the conversation – supporting good decisions with foresight – I noted several key principles – a list I share below as “Five for Foresight”.
- Be clear about your objectives
- Fully appreciate your context
- Be specific about your assumptions (and uncertainties)
- Be rigorous about your decision criteria (and their weightings)
- Plan to include the active monitoring of variations
I’d like to think my new OghtWe decision app frees you up for foresight Watch here if unable to watch on YouTube. 
Limited Time Offer – OughtWe decision app for just US$3.25 - OughtWe decision app – illustrated with a pinch of fun, and a small example
Introducing the OughtWe decision app 
To illustrate the key processes, this blog uses only three criteria (head, heart, gut). OughtWe – as an Expert System – uses a set of default criteria developed across the disaster management sector over decades. Establishing context – naming and describing the decision to be made, identifying options and their rationales, generating decision criteria and attributing weightings to them, applying the decision criteria to evaluate each option, and taking the preferred option into a plan. 
Tweak for Context Attributing weightings to Head, Heart, and Gut decision criteria Evaluating – recording the associated rationales Display the evaluation to stimulate conversations Structure your plan to be as simple as possible Planning is about monitoring and refinement 
Communicate throughout by screen shares and tailored reports - OughtWe decision app – an Expert System
OughtWe operates as an expert system 
OughtWe taps into disaster management decision making
because disaster management is about crucial decisions.
When making a decision, what things are important considerations?
Given all considerations are not equally important,
what weighting do you attribute to each criterion.All criteria are full editable – from delete them, to neutralising them (by setting their weighting to zero, to adding new criteria.
Weightings should be adjusted to reflect your context and your values.
Oughtwe encourages iterative planning –
by sharing screenshots or tailored PDFs
The structures and processes in OughtWe use documents in order to achieve results. 
As an element of incorporating user feedback into the Expert System approach we encourage all OughtWe users to provide reviews within the app.
