No, The LA Fires are not a Black Swan Event

This is not the time to leverage catastrophe - the fires in California are horrible. There's no escaping that.

But they are not surprising, unfortunately.

And that is part of the tragedy.

As experts at Columbia Climate School so aptly explain in the below article, weaknesses in urban planning, exhaustion of natural resources (notably water), challenging terrain, and of course, climate change have created a perfect storm.

Who knows which part was the final straw for the recent events, but I have no doubt Risk Directors sat in planning meetings attempting to raise these concerns and implement controls - to no avail.

This scenario plays out on a micro and macro scale all the time:

🔺Leaders chase quick wins over long-term stability
🔺Boards rubber-stamp instead of question
🔺Risk frameworks gather dust while threats evolve
🔺Tomorrow's problems are ignored for today's profits

Here's the truth: most failures aren't because of unknown risks. They're because of ignored risks and failed compliance.

Let's learn from this horrible event and have the courage to face challenges with mitigation and planning.

Risk and Compliance are not roadblocks, but opportunities to build a secure and scalable future with confidence.