Effective action begins when we overcome inertia. It demands recognition of the need to act and the courage to take the step—absent that, inertia rules. Once in motion, we must constantly surveil our actions to determine if they are contextually appropriate, or if their intended effect backfires.

The risks we encounter in today’s environment increase in speed and complexity, and our Risk Immune System must seek and operationalize diverse opinions to best compete and survive. We all know and appreciate the benefits of diverse teams—their importance not only in physical representation but also in thought and capability. “Seeing” only one part

Too often our efforts to manage risk create further risks. Whether in combat or in day-to-day life, we encounter situations that call for us to assume a reasonable amount of risk to achieve our goals, and if we try to make ourselves “bulletproof,” we may ultimately collapse under the weight of our gear.

From an organizational standpoint, narratives set norms and standards that do much to drive behaviors.

An Unclear Mission. The organization does not understand what it’s trying to do. This is all too common. Lack of a Strategy—or Failure to Follow It. There is a lack of alignment across the team on “how” the mission is to be accomplished. Often strategies brief well but are either unrealistic or simply ignored. Poor Communication. The parts of the

To bolster their defenses against risk, organizations should encourage their teams to incorporate fusion cells, ensuring that people with different roles and bodies of knowledge are involved in key decision-making processes and sharing information.

Is your organization positioned to adapt to changing conditions? Does a preoccupation with efficiency inhibit your ability to adapt? What other factors inhibit your ability to adapt to changing conditions? The Bottom Line Every threat is different—so too must be our responses. Constantly changing threats demand continuous adaptation.

It is more an exercise in self-reflection and disciplined thinking, a unique approach to keeping risk fit and creating resilience throughout an organization.

Communication, the essential enabler of the Risk Immune System, doesn’t happen spontaneously. As we saw in Chapter 3, natural reluctance, even outright resistance, to sharing information must be overcome through demanding leadership and personal example. Leaders must also constantly monitor potential intentional and unintentional misinformation. At