Greetings!

Several years ago, while on vacation with my family I was flying a kite on the beach with our youngest son Ty. Ty always enjoyed flying kites, seeing how high he could get them and feeling the strong pull on the kite string as they climbed higher and higher. This was a great day for flying a kite. Ty had a 500-foot spool of string and after about 45 minutes he was nearing the very end of his string. Since my kite had crashed much earlier, he and I began discussing how we could tie my spool of string to his kite and get it even higher.

Shockingly, just as we were preparing to tie on the extra spool of kite string, a small private plane from a local municipal airport which had just taken off, clipped the already maxed out kite string; immediately snapping it. Throughout the morning, we had been watching the planes as they were taking off and landing, but it never occurred to either of us that something like this could happen. We were just amazed that Ty’s little kite was higher than the airplanes were.

As the plane continued on its course completely unaware of the kite string it had just broken; we stood there in complete surprise and watched as his kite immediately fluttered downward and drifted aimlessly back and forth, carried by the wind until it fell into the ocean.

Only moments earlier this kite was pulling and straining against the string, climbing higher and higher with each new inch of length we let out of the spool of string. But now…with the string broken and unencumbered by the constraints of the cord; instead of continuing to climb higher, the kite immediately floundered, fluttered and fell.

The kite was able to fly…able to soar, able to climb higher, “because” of the constraints and restrictions of the string, not in spite of it! The string did not hold it back; it was string that made it possible for the kite to achieve the amazing heights that it reached. 

Perhaps not surprisingly, I find amazing similarities and parallels with the kite & string and Risk Management. For some individuals; policies and procedures, checklists, guidelines, training and re-training, certifications, unwavering standards, and corporate governance are seen as a hindering nuisance that is holding them back, keeping them down, and retarding their greater potential. When in reality, the exact opposite is true. It is strict adherence to ardent Risk Management principles that allow organizations to flourish, discover new technologies, outperform their competitors, and truly soar. Those organizations who; from the Senior Executive Team down, truly embrace Safety, Quality, Constant Training, and Corporate Risk Management strategies know firsthand how these self-imposed constraints and guidelines keep them focused and help them soar to greater heights. Just as the kite could never fly without the resistance of the string…neither can any organization truly soar without the constraints and guidelines of sound Risk Management strategies. 

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, please give me a call. And if you ever want to demonstrate the "string principle" to others, you can always go fly a kite, then…cut the string.