This week, several organizations publicly reported operational disruption following cyber incidents. One organization couldn't process property transactions. Another temporarily suspended production. What struck me wasn't the attack itself. It was the assumption that operations had to stop until technology was restored. That raises an important leadership question: Is shutting down your only safe option? Sometimes the answer is yes. Safety, regulatory requirements, or product integrity may leave no alternative. But if every major technology disruption results in a complete operational shutdown, it's worth asking another question: Have we designed our operations to survive technology failure, or have we designed them to depend on perfect technology? That's the difference between recovery and operational survival. Recovery asks: "How quickly can we restore our systems?" Operational survival asks: "How do we continue delivering our mission while those systems are unavailable?" 💬 Discussion question: If one critical technology your organization depends on disappeared tomorrow, what business function would leadership be most reluctant to stop—and why?

Imagine your organization has been operating without critical technology for four hours. The initial disruption has passed. People are looking to leadership for direction. Customers are waiting. The pressure is building. Here's my question: What's the one leadership decision that simply cannot wait? There isn't a single correct answer. Different organizations face different priorities, constraints, and consequences. I'm not looking for textbook responses. I'm interested in how leaders think when the usual playbook no longer applies. What decision would your leadership team need to make first—and why? I'm looking forward to hearing the different perspectives.

Let's start with a question. Imagine you walk into work tomorrow morning and discover that the technology your organization depends on most is unavailable. Not compromised. Not slow. Unavailable. No one knows how long it will last. What's the first thing that worries you? Is it: Serving customers? Payroll? Communications? Production? Public safety? Regulatory obligations? Something else entirely? There isn't a right answer. I'm interested in what immediately comes to mind. 👇 Share your answer in the comments.

Welcome @Finn Rye , @Cory Dodds , @Chris Leutwyler , @Christopher Helkenn , @Andy Thompson , @Mirsija Keefer , and @John Dixon ! First, thank you for being here. Many of you are former colleagues, teammates, and friends I've had the privilege of working with over the years. I know your time is valuable, and I'm genuinely grateful that you're willing to help me test and shape something new. I'm building Calm Under Attack™, a leadership framework designed to help organizations prepare for the day critical technology becomes unavailable. Rather than focusing only on preventing cyber incidents, the goal is to help leaders continue operating when prevention isn't enough. This community is my workshop. Over the coming weeks, I'll be sharing ideas, asking questions, testing tools, and gathering honest feedback as I develop the Operational Survival™ methodology. Some ideas will evolve. Some won't survive your feedback—and that's exactly why you're here. Please don't worry about hurting my feelings. If something is confusing, unrealistic, or doesn't resonate, tell me. Your candid input will help make this far more practical and valuable for the leaders I hope to serve. If you've worked with me before, you already know I believe the best solutions are built collaboratively. I'm excited to build this one with your help. Thank you again for joining me on this journey. I'm looking forward to the conversations ahead. ❤️

It's 8:15 on a Tuesday morning. A cyberattack, major outage, or critical technology failure suddenly disrupts the systems your organization depends on. The phones are ringing. Employees are looking for direction. Leadership is being asked what happens next. Here's my question: What's the first business function that absolutely must continue operating? Not the first application. Not the first server. The first business function. There isn't a universal answer. Every organization has different priorities, different consequences, and different operational realities. I'm interested in how leaders think about that first critical decision. What would your organization protect first—and why?