What to Do?
April 8, 2020
A blog by i-SIGMA CEO Bob Johnson discusses how i-SIGMA members can constructively use any downtime resulting from the current shutdown.
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Did you know the saying “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” is attributed to a high school football coach in Corpus Christi Texas in 1953? I didn’t either. I would have guessed Winston Churchill.
Anyway, it’s a good saying… and true. Probably why I thought it had a more impressive origin.
Most of the business people I know are tough. They tend to “get going.” In a pinch, they defer to action. They lead. They’re the ones you want in your corner during a crisis.
Initially, “get going” meant doing the things necessary to get to the other side of it. It meant making hard decisions, understanding that they were necessary to remain viable. For many, it means applying for federal and state relief. It means communicating with clients, prospects and employees.
The reality is, however, even though those activities are ongoing, they are not going to fill ALL of anyone’s time during the current shut down.
It’s impossible to paint any part of this horrible chapter as a good think. That being the case, it is what it is and you’re not on a vacation. The list of suggested projects below is a combination of what I see other i-SIGMA members working on, and what I know from my conversations that they need to work on.
- Strategize How to Re-ignite Business Afterward
- Add to/Segment the Prospect Database
- Earning an Accreditation (CSDS, CIPP, CRM, CPP)
- Update RIM and Secure Destruction Operations Policies and Procedures
- Optimize Inefficient Processes
- Prepare to get NAID AAA or PRISM Privacy+ Certified
- Remedial or Preventive Maintenance
- Update the i-SIGMA Member Profile Information
- Read Information Disposition
- Organize Computer Files
- Write an Article or Blog
Even though glimmers of a light at the end of the tunnel are out there, no one is saying things will get back to normal quickly. Staying productive and working on emerging from this stronger not only makes sense from a business perspective, it’s also a way for people predisposed to favor action to keep engaged and sane. When there’s so many things we can’t control, it only makes sense to focus on those we can.