Greetings!

Less than a week after receiving his drivers license at the age of 16, David; one of my five brothers was driving a pickup truck home from one of our turkey ranches and decided to take a short detour.

Adjacent to the main road, was a small dirt road that had an, albeit short; a rather steep hill that bottomed out quite abruptly and then rose again to meet the main road several hundred yards further down.

This was the same detour that our dad had taken with us boys many, many times over the years as we traveled home from this particular ranch. The steep drop, combined with the abrupt rise at the bottom gave us that fun “roller coaster” feeling. We had all come to call this little detour, our “Thrill Hill”.

Because of the numerous times Dave had been on this detour with dad, he was very familiar with the route, the approaching drop, and was eagerly anticipating that thrill hill feeling. What David’s 16-year-old brain and logic didn’t fully understand or appreciate, is that when dad took us on this thrill hill detour his speed in the truck was about 10-12 mph. 

Dave, wanting to really accentuate the roller coaster feeling, was determined to take the detour at a faster speed. Telling the story after the event, Dave said that as he came to the top of the hill he looked down, and the speedometer needle of that old green Dodge pickup truck was just past 45 mph.

Instead of simply a heightened and more exciting thrill hill experience; Dave was now airborne!

An old farmer relaxing at the end of the day on his porch which was nearby, explained to dad that he watched in disbelief as the truck sailed through the air and disappeared, only to be seen again a few seconds later as it bounced off the ground, and came back into view for a brief moment, before coming to a stop in a mess of weeds, scrub oak and dirt mounds at the bottom of the hill.

Remember, if cars (or trucks) even had seat belts in 50’s and 60’s no one ever wore them. I can just picture Dave bouncing around in the cab of that old truck like a ping pong ball. Honestly, I think dad (and mom) were so grateful he wasn’t seriously injured, that dad simply asked; “What were you thinking”? as the two of them drove home together in another truck that didn’t have two blown out tires.

“What were you thinking”? A question that is asked many times to others…and often times to ourselves following an accident, a cyber breach, a product failure, a recall, an injury, a decision to override safety guards, texting while driving, or ignoring and disregarding company policies and procedures and training. Because all of us have lapses in judgement at times, it is critical to have a Corporate Culture and environment that is rooted in following policies and procedures, and an organization that embraces an expectation of quality, a standard of excellence, and a risk management strategy from the CEO down to every level of employee. This commitment to understanding and managing all aspects of Corporate Risk is critical to the success of every organization.

I know what I was thinking as we were discussing David’s eventful ride home from the farm over family dinner that evening. Being 5 years younger than Dave and always looking for adventure, I remember clearly thinking…I need to ride in the truck more often with Dave! 

We know, that like my limited viewpoint at the time, and my brother David's lack of understanding about speed; not everyone sees things from the same perspective, not everyone has the same life experiences from which to draw upon. This is why regular training, explaining, teaching and re-training are critical components to an effective risk management strategy.

My McGriff team and I believe in constant improvement and challenging the status quo of managing Corporate Risk. We are constantly learning so we can discuss strategies that will bring advanced tactics, solutions and value to you and your company. If you’re the type of organization or person who strives to get better every day, who believes in betting on yourself, if you want to take more control of your Corporate Risk while keeping all four wheels on the ground, please give me a call.