Managing Uncertainty, by Bryghtpath LLC

In Episode 193 of the podcast, Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses the critical topic of mental health for crisis management professionals and tips to help manage your well-being. As crisis management professionals, we are the first responders of the corporate world. Stress, anxiety, and burnout are all occupational hazards of this high-stakes profession. …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses the recent workplace shooting in Louisville, Kentucky, and the questions that have arisen around workplace violence prevention and threat management. Bryan shares a few key components that mature organizations should implement, including a strong workplace violence prevention program with …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser talks about artificial intelligence and business continuity. As a part of the episode, Bryan asks the OpenAI Foundation’s ChatGPT a few questions about business continuity and resilience and reads back its answers.  Bryan also shares how Bryghtpath has been experimenting …

Toddlers are always getting themselves into uncertain situations that may cause them to fall, but they are malleable enough to come out mostly unscathed. Your organization should be the same way. In this episode, Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser and Senior Consultant Bray Wheeler discuss how resilience allows you to embrace uncertainty. Additional Resources …

Have you brought your crisis management team together since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank? You may think that the collapse doesn’t affect you, but take a moment to consider who and what you depend on. You may find that your answer changes or you might feel uncertain about the situation. In this episode, Principal …

As a leader, have you ever wondered what the best way to gain credibility and maintain it is? In this episode of the podcast, Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discuses just that by going into more detail about how you, as a leader, can be candid and empathetically direct.

As Bryghtpath has grown, we’ve invested time documenting certain aspects of our culture.  Last year, we did an episode focused on our Core Values and their use in our hiring and performance review process. One of the areas we’ve focused on has been documenting how we work.  We believe we’ve created something unique at Bryghtpath – …

Recently when reading a recap from McKinsey, the phrase “your clock speed has to increase to match the environment” leapt out from the page. In Episode #186 of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses how this approach should be applied to your organization’s resilience program – ensuring strategic alignment on …

Whether you think of it as remote work, distributed work, hybrid work, or some other term, how we manage and lead teams is changing.  In Episode #185 of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser shares his thoughts on leading remote teams and “managing to outcomes” instead of “butts in seats.” …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser shares an example from the hit TV show Mad Men and how Don Draper has something to teach us all about resilience storytelling. Watch the scene from Mad Men  

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses why resilience should be at the top of your board’s agenda and how resilience professionals can best prepare their board for what’s next.

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses the need for strategic alignment between your organization’s senior executives, your strategic objectives, and your resilience program.  

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses whether business continuity is a component of crisis management or vice versa. More importantly, does it matter? Links from the episode: What is Resilience?  

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser talks about setting up the new year for success with your resilience program. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser shares the topics that your Board of Directors and Board Committees have been talking about concerning resilience – most likely without you. Additional Resources Check out our Free Courses on Business Continuity, Crisis Management, and Crisis Communications. Need to develop your …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser dives into General Mills’ Q2 2023 earnings report to showcase why it’s essential to align your resilience strategies for business continuity, crisis management, and crisis communications with your organization’s business objectives. Topics discussed include knowing how to read an earnings statement, …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser, along with Senior Consultant Bray Wheeler, discuss strategy & innovation in resiliency and the need to be able to walk away from the sacred cows of how things have been done in the past. Topics discussed include strategy challenges, innovation, …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses what year two of your crisis management program should entail. Topics discussed include misconceptions about year two, investing in your program and how to do it, and building a culture of resilience. Related Episodes and Articles Article: How to Successfully …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses Bryghtpaths’ brand new Communicating in the Critical Moment Course.  Topics discussed include what the new course entails and how the material is laid out.

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser and Bray Wheeler, Senior Consultant, discuss how to reset your business continuity program for the challenges of 2023. Topics discussed include our take on the challenges of 2023, expense reductions, the economy, the positioning of your program, alignment against your organization’s strategic objectives,  …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser and Bray Wheeler, Senior Consultant, discuss the topic of crisis fatigue, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on crisis management & business continuity teams, and how one can overcome crisis fatigue. Topics discussed include crisis fatigue, what the “new normal” …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser and Senior Consultant Bray Wheeler discuss the brand new Bryghtpath Exercise Maturity Model. Topics discussed include evaluating your exercise strategy, maturity models, and how the Bryghtpath team thinks about exercise strategies as a series of building blocks that grow over …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser and Bray Wheeler, Senior Consultant, roleplay a scenario in which they emphasize the importance of getting back to the root of a problem – repositioning the discussion back to strategy. Topics discussed include problem-solving, organizational strategy, and understanding the motivation …

In Episode #170 of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser, along with Senior Consultant Bray Wheeler, discuss Bryghtpath’s Long-Term Recovery Framework. When a crisis has shifted beyond the initial response phase and you’re settling in for the long-term recovery effort, our Long-Term Recovery Framework helps lay out the areas where …

In Episode #169 of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser, along with Senior Consultant Bray Wheeler, discuss lessons learned from eight years of working with clients. Topics discussed included leveraging your consulting partner to accomplish your strategic objectives, crisis communications & reputation management, relationships within your organization, underutilizing expertise, crisis …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser, along with Senior Consultant Bray Wheeler, discuss mistakes companies make with their crisis management programs. Topics discussed include crisis leadership failures, crisis management teams, under-responding in a crisis, crisis processes, and taking care of your team.

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser and Senior Consultant Bray Wheeler discuss building a new business continuity or crisis management plan and who that plan may affect before you start building. Topics discussed include understanding key players and questions to ask before creating a process. Related …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser and Bray Wheeler, Senior Consultant, discuss Bryghtpath’s definition of a crisis. Topics discussed include crisis definitions, crisis versus incidents, critical disruptions, and organizational communication. Related Articles and Episodes Article: Beyond ROI: The Value of Effective Crisis Management Article: How to set up …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses what it takes to write, record, edit, and produce one of the leading crisis management and business continuity podcasts in the world. Topics discussed include how to podcast got started, the equipment used for the podcast, and what makes …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses how crucial it is to have a strong crisis leader in times of disruption and uncertainty. Topics discussed include what makes a strong crisis leader and how they lead their organization by being situationally aware. Relate Articles & Episodes …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses the importance of after-action reports and how they can help us to learn from past experiences so we can make original mistakes in the future. Topics Discussed include making original mistakes, the Uvalde Texas school shooting, and learning from …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses how to use National Preparedness Month to create leverage and awareness for your business continuity and crisis management programs. Topics discussed include what National Preparedness Month is, the themes for national preparedness month, and how those themes relate to …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal and Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses the need for crisis management and business continuity professionals to be candid, particularly with their organization’s senior executives and board. Topics discussed include candor, internal corporate politics, interacting with senior executives, and communicating with partners. Related Episodes and Articles …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses the experiences and inspiration that led to Bryghtpath's founding in 2014. Topics discussed include Bryghtpath’s core values, learning how to sell, distilling expertise into products, and life outside corporate America. Related Episodes & Blog Posts Article: Our Core Values …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses our new Ultimate Guide to Crisis Management, where we explain everything you need to know about Crisis Management. Related Episodes & Blog Posts Article: The Ultimate Guide to Crisis Management Article: The Ultimate Guide to Business Continuity  

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses trust in Business Continuity and Crisis Management programs and the importance of ensuring your program is aligned with the strategic objectives of your organization and maintaining credible relationships with your program’s stakeholders and executives. Related Episodes & Blog Posts …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses our new product, Exercise in a Box. Created by our battle-tested experts at Bryghtpath, Exercise in a Box is a set of crisis and continuity exercises that can be executed by a business leader in under an hour and …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser talks about recent failures in crisis leadership & incident command. Related Articles & Episodes: Navy Times:  Vice Admiral and two dozen others punished for USS Bonhomme Richard fire Texas Tribune:  “Systemic failures” in Uvalde shooting went far beyond local police, …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser talks about Bryghtpath’s new 5-Day Business Continuity Accelerator online interactive course.  

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser talks about how to find success in an engagement with a business continuity consultant. Topics discussed include ideal client and consultant fit, understanding organizational culture, the need to allow your chosen experts to have direct interaction with executives, and more. …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses our product, Crisis Playbook, where we offer pre-written crisis management & crisis communications plans for many situations, including active assailant/active shooter, fatality, natural disasters, and other emergency situations. We describe Crisis Playbook as: Developing custom crisis management, crisis communications, …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser talks about our recently published Ultimate Guide to Business Continuity. Topics discussed include what is business continuity, why business continuity is important, how business continuity fits into an overall resilience strategy, and where to go to learn more about Business …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser talks about the idea that you get one chance to do it right when launching a new program or kicking off a new initiative within your existing program. Related Episodes & Articles Episode #149: Things I wish I knew 10 …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser reflects on 6 years of podcasting on Managing Uncertainty. Topics discussed include what we've learned about podcasting and the impact that Managing Uncertainty has made. Related Episodes & Blog Posts Episode #149: Things I wish I knew 10 years ago …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser talks about things he wishes he knew 10 years ago as a Crisis & Continuity Professional. Topics discussed include marketing your business continuity program, the connections between your program and your organization’s overall business objectives & strategies, leading and influencing …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses three books he’s read that have impacted our business. The three books: You’re It:  Crisis, Change,and How to Lead When It Matters Most, by Leonard J. Marcus, Eric J. McNulty, Joseph M. Henderson, & Barry C. Dorn. The Business …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses organizational core values, what they mean for an organization, and how Bryghtpath approached developing our core values. Related Episodes & Blog Posts Bryghtpath’s Core Values Episode #116: Tools We Use At Bryghtpath (2021 Edition) Episode #143: A Typical Week …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser talks about how to choose the right business continuity certification. Topics discussed include the need for business continuity professional certification, offerings from the Business Continuity Institute (BCI), offerings from the Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRI or DRII), and how to …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses the lessons learned after two years of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Topics discussed include COVID-19, the “Great Resignation”, how we’ll fight pandemics in the future, the miracle of the COVID-19 vaccines, impacts to the economic, the rise of remote/hybrid …

How do you stand up a successful business continuity program from scratch? In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser walks through the process we use at Bryghtpath using the example of an organization without a current business continuity program.  Topics discussed include business continuity policies, program charters, …

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses a typical week at Bryghtpath. Bryan provides a detailed look into his day-to-day and how he leads our team at Bryghtpath by delivering value to our clients every single day. Related Episodes & Blog Posts Blog Post: How to …