5 Reasons People Fail to Plan for Disasters

Planning is not a difficult thing to do, particularly when you're trying to preserve or grow something containing value. Nonetheless, people often fail to do it. Below are some common reasons for this:

• Positive Thinking – People have a tendency to think about the positive aspects as a mechanism of avoiding or denying potentially bad things. It's the “it can't happen to me” syndrome.
• Shifting the Blame – Blame for negative events and consequences is often shifted to someone else. This is a way for people to protect themselves and avoid responsibility. Perhaps the most popular target is the government and its perceived failure to “rescue” a business who failed to prepare themselves for a predictable disaster.
• Maintaining the State Quo – The old adage “if it ain't broke, don't fix it” often gives people an excuse to avoid planning for potential disasters. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Crises can happen, regardless of what anyone thinks.
• Procrastination – Believing that disaster is always a long way off encourages people to delay planning. However, many can occur with little or no notice.
• A Waste of Effort - Spending time and effort to address potential problems can be seen as a wasted investment. After all, you don't really need preparedness unless a crisis occurs, right? Wrong, waiting until a disaster is underway will increase the time and cost of recovery.

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