Navigating risk: lessons from COBR
At a recent National Emergencies Trust briefing, policy leads from COBR (the Cabinet Office Briefing Room) and the UK Resilience Academy shared their views on the risks facing the UK and what leaders must do to adapt. Apart from a slight feeling that I had wondered into an episode of Slow Horses, there were two clear takeaways.
Firstly, and reinforcing so many of the conversations I have had recently, the risks facing the UK are intensifying and are more interconnected than ever. The latest National Risk Register identifies 89 ‘live’ threats from the risk of another pandemic to cyber disruption and public disorder. The government’s Chronic Risks Analysis adds a longer term view and highlights 26 interrelated pressures that put entire systems, from supply chains to infrastructure, under strain.
Secondly, the changing risk landscape demands a changed approach to leadership. It is no longer enough to respond by considering ‘only’ what’s happening to your organisation. Crisis management and resilience relies on how organisations work across systems of partners, communities, service providers, local and national government.
As called for in the UK Resilience Framework and Resilience Action Plan, we need a whole-of-society approach where business, local government and the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFS) sectors are recognised as sharing equal responsibliity with government for crisis response.
This principle reflects my experience. In crises I have been involved in, the most valuable intelligence came from the local community. From front line officers, community groups and voluntary organisations who noticed change before data caught up. Communities are the first line of crisis response and fundamental to recovery.
The new principles of effective crisis leadership
Visible ownership. In volatile, fast changing situations, employees, residents, communities look for calm accountability. Leaders who show up early and communicate clearly create confidence.
A lived risk register. Risk cannot live in a spreadsheet. For a risk register to be effective, it has to owned by leadership, tested with partners and part of organisational culture.
Real-time awareness. Leaders must take responsibility for ensuring there are systems in place to deliver reliable data and insight so crisis response can move at the speed of events.
The clear ask from government is for leaders of every organisation to see resilience and crisis management as a shared responsibilty. Having strong relationships in communities and with voluntary sector partners is critical to detecting, containing and recovering from crisis.
When leaders do this well, and are able to mobilise not just their teams but a broader system, crisis management becomes more than response but collective resilience.
