Did French retailers’ fridges get hacked because they lacked action plans, and could it have been avoided?
Retailers in France and across Europe suffered losses of tens of millions of euros after their internet-connected fridges were hacked and turned into ovens. According to the service provider, the affected units were running on outdated firmware. The provider said it had repeatedly advised retailers to keep supported systems updated with the latest firmware and migrate legacy systems to current-generation solutions, advice that was apparently not followed.
In hindsight, what if these retailers had clear and implementable risk management strategies as part of their action plans?
This raises the question as to why companies suffer malicious incidents like these or simply stagnate due to a lack of action plans, even in the age of AI.
Organisations rarely stagnate overnight. Performance often declines gradually as old processes remain unchanged, decisions are delayed, opportunities are missed and people lose the energy and urgency that once drove the organisation.
The result is an organisation that is still busy - but no longer performing at the level it once did.
Business thought leaders have for many years propagated the notion that organisations that operate without action plans are not in a position to identify what has changed and, perhaps, what is holding them back and what needs to happen to restore momentum.
In the case of these European retailers being hacked, could one argue that if they had real action plans, they would have been in a position to prioritise the perceived risks and turn them into clear mitigating priorities, practical actions and measurable outcomes - maintaining momentum, unlocking opportunities and improving business performance?
An action plan would have asked, probed, challenged, synthesised and documented the threats to their operations - helping them identify red flags and mitigate the potential risks listed in the action plan.
Real action plans produce practical priorities, solutions and actions, with responsibilities and timelines clearly assigned. They would normally have a seven-step process with a 30-, 60- and 90-day follow-through framework, which helps turn decisions into implementation.
According to Gerrit Davids, Lead Advisor at TaranisCo Advisory, “Organisations may not need another training course - they may need an Action Plan. It can address challenges involving strategy, sales, marketing, customer experience, people, productivity, technology, procurement, operations, innovation and business development.”
“Where a business has stagnated or become stuck, the objective is simple, restore focus, create momentum and get people moving in the same direction again,” said Davids.
Leadership and management guru Peter Drucker, in an article in Harvard Business Review, opined that leaders become effective because they develop action plans.