Plan B?

If like me you've watched the BP oil spill drama unfold recently, you may have been left wondering something? What on earth happened to Plan B? Who would have thought that despite the (now evident) risks of operations at an amazing depth of 5000ft, there didn't seem to be a plan for what happened when things went wrong?

For BP, this must be a worst case scenario. As I write, its share price continues to tumble and the company is being vilified across the globe. On the late news this evening, Barack Obama was calling for the head of the BP CEO Tony Hayward.

Worse, much worse, an unprecedented ecological disaster is developing that is wreaking havoc on the US coast. Natural habitats are being destroyed, as are the livelihoods of many thousands of people.

Back to BP for a moment, it's worth bearing in mind that this could be any oil company who has fallen victim to these events. Rented equipment and I'm not sure that BP was even operating the rig when things went wrong. There must be a number of CEO's giving quiet thanks that it's not them in the firing line.

I don't have the answer to these particular issues of course, but there's a lesson to be learned for all of us from this sorry mess. Have a Plan B. Contingency planning is something we all need to do. Things go wrong. Despite best laid plans events often take an unexpected turn for the worse.

Let's give some thought to what the risks are, how likely to happen and how serious the outcomes might be. And then plan accordingly should the events ever happen in full or in part. Something is better than nothing.

Feel free to get in touch to discuss.