Would You Push Him Off The Train?
September 20, 2007
A friend of mine works for Virgin trains. All the Virgin staff I’ve met wouldn’t work anywhere else, and they worship Richard Branson like he was God.
But, curiosity got the better of me. And I had to ask the question. “What would you do if there was a suicide bomber on the train?”
“Don’t say that,” she said. “You’re scaring me.”
“Would you push him off?” I asked.
” I couldn’t. The doors are locked when the train is moving. I would have to tell the driver to stop the train.”
” Then would you push him off?”
“No way,” she said, “I’d get someone else to do it.”
“And would they know what to do?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “But, I’m definitely going to find out on Monday.”
Now, you’re probably wondering what a suicide bomber on Virgin trains has to do with your business. Well, the point I’m trying to make is that you have to have a plan in place for when things go wrong in your business.
And I know what you’re thinking. It’s always the things you don’t expect that happen anyway. But, you can still plan and document what to do in an emergency. Remember, it’s best to document it, because people don’t always think clearly in emergencies.
Ask yourself the following questions:
What would I do if myself, or a key member of staff ended up in hospital?
What would I do if my business premises or equipment were rendered unusable?
What would I do if we received potentially damaging press?
What would you do if your entire team went down with flu?
I bet you can think of plenty more. So why not plan out now what you’d do in business emergency situations and write a contingency plan. It may seem like a drag now, but it could save your business from disaster in the long run.
And for the record, I’m sure Virgin trains do have a contingency plan for dealing with terrorists. They probably just don’t want to terrify every single member of staff by broadcasting it.
Comments
One Response to “Would You Push Him Off The Train?”
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Successful And Outstanding Blogger
Remind me of saving up your money…most just spend and spend a little more beside that and the next thing you know, they don’t have any to spend