IoD Midlands Spring

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Welcome
Covid has been wake-up call to
look after the things that matter
Gary Headland
Chair, IoD East Midlands
I hope you are all safe, and well.
My introduction for this issue of our IoD
regional magazine focuses on two
important issues which are high priorities
for me in my own business, both of which
relate to safety.
Our People
First is the safety of our people: I am
really concerned about the impact the
past 12-18 months has had on them.
My primary role is a people business.
With around 1,200 staff, we deliver
education to approximately 18,000 students
each year, based in three countries on three
continents. Combined, that is a lot of
people, all of whom have felt the impact of
Covid (and to a lesser extent, Brexit) in a
range of different ways. Our operating
model has been turned upside down and
while aspects of our culture have
strengthened during the crisis, many of
our customs and working practices,
systems and routines have effectively
become void.
My concern about people relates to
assumptions I hear being made across
many businesses about what ‘the right
thing to do is’, with very bold statements
about what people want or how people
have fared: “People are happier working
from home”; “people are more productive
working remotely”. With some fairly
gentle scratching of the surface, many (but
by no means all) people really mean when
they ask what the right thing to do is, is
‘what the business needs’ – ie, a financially
driven decision – but they are rationalising
their thinking as a result of a data bias,
more on which below.
The current financial year for my own
business has been very hard but I am
resisting the urge to make urgent
operational decisions that involve people
until we have a better understanding
about the genuine impact the past 12-18
months has had on the health, wellbeing
and productivity of our workforce.
As a young military officer in the early
‘90s, the OODA loop (Source: USAF Col
John Boyd; see above) formed part of my
leadership training and it has stayed with
me throughout my professional working
life.
In my experience, crisis management
can sometimes cause us to take shortcuts.
This can mean that we observe and then
use our knowledge, experience and
intuition to decide without proper
orientation (analysis). Those preferring a
dynamic, seat-of-their-pants approach
might think we can’t afford ‘paralysis by
analysis’: we need to make decisions now.
To a point I agree but equally I have
never felt that expediency is an excuse for
poor judgement.
The danger with our knowledge,
experience and intuition is the risk of data
biases: eg, confirmation bias, framing bias,
over-confidence bias, availability bias and
short-termism.
Human beings are not predictable in
the way that machines and systems are.
In the rush to make decisions, I feel
strongly that we as company directors
need to make the OODA loop work as fast
as possible, not to move rashly from
‘observe’ to ‘decide’.
Our Information and Systems
My second concern is the safety of our
information and systems.
Unfortunately, I have first-hand
experience of a major cyber attack in the
past six months. The attack was made
with military precision in terms of
reconnaissance, intelligence and
execution. The disruption was immense
and cost of recovery significant, despite
having excellent insurance in place.
These despicable attackers are highly
organised and capable and could not give
a fig about our worthy purpose and civic
contribution. Many other education
establishments and businesses have been
attacked very recently. It is on the rise!
We felt that we were well prepared, we
had a cyber security mindset,
accreditation, as well as two recent audit
inspections providing a clean bill of health
– yet even so, we were a victim.
Our attack took place close to midnight
“The attack was made with military
precision in terms of
reconnaisance, intelligence and
execution... the disruption was
immense and costly...”
04
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