From Strategic Planning: Developing the Plan That Works for You

Mark Lex, CSO of Abbott Laboratories, spoke next about Strategic Planning: Developing the Plan that Works for You.

After Burrill’s inspirational turn and Rosen’s philosophical turn, it seemed appropriate to head for the practical and tactical. Lex laid out in a straighforward manner Abbott’s method of strategic planning for security, using real documents from Abbott Labs. This was solid risk management at work, or, as Lex put it, “The how of achieving the what.”

The most intriguing slide Lex showed was one he used internally to influence executives on security. It was called “Advocates and Assassins,” and it was his company’s org chart (names and titles removed) with each position on the chart rated Red, Yellow or Green, representing the obvious corresponding friendliness of that executive to the security program. Rating the executives this way has helped Lex figure out who to influence and how to turn reds to yellows and yellows to greens, often by influencing Greens who work under Reds to “influence up.” Good stuff. And very useful.