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Episode 49 - Compliance, Controls, and Cosmic Risks: What Return to Tomorrow Teaches About Risk Assessments
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Few episodes of Star Trek TOS capture the perils and promise of risk assessments like “Return to Tomorrow,” the classic second-season adventure where Kirk and his crew face a literal mind-bending dilemma. For compliance professionals, “Return to Tomorrow” offers more than sci-fi drama. It serves as a blueprint for effective risk assessment, rich with lessons for every organization navigating uncertainty.
Lesson 1: Identify and Understand the Full Scope of Risks—Don’t Let Opportunity Blind You
Illustrated By: The crew is awestruck by the possibility of contacting one of the galaxy’s oldest civilizations. Sa
Compliance Lesson: Risk assessments often begin with an exciting opportunity, expansion, innovation, new markets, or partnerships. However, in the excitement of the moment, organizations may overlook hidden dangers. Just as the Enterprise crew is dazzled by the promise of ancient knowledge, compliance teams can be swept up by the potential upside of a new venture.
Lesson 2: Involve All Stakeholders in Risk Analysis—Don’t Go It Alone
Illustrated By: Sargon asks for the voluntary use of Kirk, Spock, and Dr. Mulhall’s bodies for his species’ survival. Spock, McCoy, and Mulhall debate the risks, with McCoy especially vocal about the potential dangers to the hosts.
Compliance Lesson: Risk assessments cannot be conducted in a vacuum. Kirk’s leadership shines as he brings together key stakeholders for honest discussion, each bringing their unique expertise, biases, and concerns.
Lesson 3: Evaluate Controls and Safeguards—Trust, but Verify
Illustrated By: The process of transferring Sargon and his companions into human hosts is carefully orchestrated, but Spock, ever the scientist, insists on “fail-safes.
Compliance Lesson: Risk assessment without strong controls is little more than wishful thinking. The Enterprise crew is willing to take calculated risks, but only after establishing controls.
Lesson 4: Beware the Human Element—Risk Changes When Emotions Run High
Illustrated By: Henoch. Quickly abuses his power, attempting to make the arrangement permanent and manipulating others to his advantage.
Compliance Lesson: Risk assessments that focus solely on systems, processes, or technical controls ignore the most volatile variable of all: people. Henoch’s deception is a vivid reminder that intentions can change, and personal incentives can undermine even the best-laid plans.
Lesson 5: Prepare for Rapid Escalation—Build Resilience into Your Risk Response
Illustrated By: As Henoch’s true motives become clear and the threat to the crew escalates, Kirk, McCoy, and Nurse Chapel must rapidly adapt their strategy.
Compliance Lesson: Even the best risk assessment cannot predict every twist. The ability to respond with agility is what separates organizations that survive crisis from those that are undone by it.
Final ComplianceLog Reflections
“Return to Tomorrow” is more than a sci-fi adventure. It is a parable for today’s risk-conscious enterprise. The Enterprise crew faces the unknown not with blind optimism, but with rigor, transparency, and a willingness to confront hard truths. They model a process every compliance professional can adopt:
So, the next time you’re charting your organization’s course through risk, remember: as Captain Kirk once intoned early in this episode, “Risk is our business.”
Resources:
Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein
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