Hard problems don't lend themselves to easy solutions. And even if the answer is apparent from an early stage, making the decision easy, that doesn't mean there's not a lot of hard work ahead. KISS doesn't mean easy.
Simple doesn’t mean easy
Dealing with uncertainty in your risk assessment
Uncertainty is integral to a risk assessment - we are looking into the future and our data might be fuzzy - so we need a way to manage this. Here's how.
Organizational smoke alarms: how to become more proactive
Smoke alarms buy you valuable time if there's a fire in your house. You can do the same and make your organization more proactive using these simple tools.
What’s a Black Swan & why you need contingency plans
The phrase Black Swan is often used as shorthand for a very serious event but a true Black Swan is wholly unexpected. These are impossible to prepare for if we rely on previous experiences but we have other options.
Practicing what I preach
A while back, I wrote something on the need to speak up, even when it's hard. That's something we face as risk managers, but it's also a necessity in other parts of our lives. I've also written about how there are risks that are so big and uncomfortable that they're left in the corner: we … Continue reading Practicing what I preach
Just in Time Planning is a Myth
Just in time planning seems like a good idea at first - why waste time on something that might not happen - but it's going to let you down in the end.
Trusting your Gut: Informed Intuition and Risk-Based Decision-Making
Informed intuition is when you seem to be trusting your intuition but, in fact, you're recalling deeper experiences and patterns that are helping you make a decision. In short there are times when it's OK to trust your gut.
This is the balance we’re trying to strike
At the moment, we only have options to reduce our vulnerability to COVID-19 which is what relaxing constraints is based on. But the risk is ONLY reduced if we apply those measures that reduce our vulnerability or exposure. The other factors haven't changed or if they have, not in a meaningful way.
The difficulty of proving a negative
Risk and security managers are often faced with the difficult task of defending the success of a risk management program with little or no supporting evidence. Ironically, the more successful a risk management program is, the less evidence there can be to demonstrate its effectiveness.
Getting in the Fight: Transitioning to Crisis
Change is hard, and the transition from 'peacetime' to crisis is one of the hardest. Facing the spread of COVID-19, that's where many of us find ourselves today: struggling to adjust to the reality of what we are facing. That might be personally, within your family, or at an organizational level. However, I can't think … Continue reading Getting in the Fight: Transitioning to Crisis