Once upon a time there were three little boys left unsupervised while on a field trip when one of them spotted a large crack in a window pane. So he tapped the glass once and nothing happened. Next, the second…
The winding rivers of risk management
In the novel Time and Again by Jack Finney, he writes about Einstein’s theory of time travel this way: “we’re mistaken in our conception of what the past, present, and future really are. We think the past is gone, the…
Confessions of a risk manager
My 14-year old son recently bought himself a not-so-inexpensive bike with his own money. On the Monday after the purchase he wanted to take the bike to school. I advised against this as he had a pretty lousy bike lock.…
You say risk management and I say shit management
I am always amazed that despite the enormous square footage of our planet and the tiny amount of poop produced by a bird that it is possible for my car to get hit. But it occurs despite how unlikely it…
The Walking Dead and risk management
If there are two things you have noticed about this blog, I often write about zombies and the Moment of Risk Enlightenment. Today’s post combines both. (Note: This post contains spoilers about season two of the Walking Dead.) I was…
You don’t need to mitigate every risk: Tire edition
There’s a nail in the tire of my wife’s car. Rear driver side. Fat head pushed all the way in. It caught her eye on the weekend by accident while the car sat in the driveway. Tire pressure appears normal.…
When treating a risk creates another risk and so on and so on
Sometimes in an effort to treat an issue, we generate a different risk or increase an existing one in the process. Many of us can relate to when the internal auditors come in, look at existing processes and weak controls…
Dora the Explorer and too much risk
I used to watch Dora the Explorer with my daughter, a cartoon about a “7-year-old girl who embarks on a trip in every episode in order to find something or help somebody”. In every show she consults the map in…
Baseball and risk management
One day we will send a man to the moon and bring him home safely. One day we will elect a black President. One day the Montreal Expos will win a World Series. One day we will drive flying cars…
Earth will not be wiped out by supernova
A story appeared in the Telegraph yesterday with dubious headline “Earth ‘to be wiped out’ by supernova explosion”. But where was the panic and hysteria? (I suppose the English are too busy to worry about such improbable risks when they…