In the series A Song of Ice and Fire which begins with the book A Game of Thrones, by George RR Martin, we are introduced to the Wall and the Night’s Watch. The Wall is an immense fortification on the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms that defends the realm from “what lies North [...]
Posts Tagged ‘risk management’
The Night’s Watch and the Wall of risk management
Posted in Books, leadership, My Opinions, Risk management, tagged A Game of Thrones, audit, CRO, Night's Watch, risk management, Wall, Westeros on January 20, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The iPhone 4S of enterprise risk management
Posted in Frameworks, My Opinions, Risk management, Thought Leadership, tagged audit, Black Swan, change management, ERM, iPhone, leadership, PwC ERM, risk management, Taleb on January 18, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Last year Apple released the iPhone 4S and critics pointed out it was pretty much the iPhone 4 with a big-s glued on. Although there were some minor improvements from the iPhone 4, overall it was pretty much the same phone. After reading the ERM white paper “Black Swans Turn Grey” from PwC, it [...]
Angry Birds risk management
Posted in Humour, My Opinions, Risk management, tagged Android, angry birds, prioritize, risk, risk management, risk treatment, Strategy, tactics on January 4, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been playing quite a bit of Angry Birds ever since I got my Samsung Galaxy Tab for my birthday. I love this game. The objective of course is for birds (each with their unique strengths) to destroy the structures – where all the pigs who have stolen the birds’ eggs – are hiding. When [...]
Ned Stark. Hand of the King. Chief Risk Officer.
Posted in Books, ERM Basics, My Opinions, tagged A Game of Thrones, CRO, Hand of the King, Ned Stark, risk, risk management, Wintelfell on December 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Eddard (Ned) Stark, Lord of Winterfell, is a protagonist in the book A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. He is principled and tells the truth and believes in honour and justice. Ned would make an excellent Chief Risk Officer. When King Robert Baratheon asked him to become the Hand of the King – [...]
Dan Gardiner, optimism and iceberg risk
Posted in Books, My Opinions, Risk management, tagged bias, Dan Gardner, Future Babble, overconfidence, risk management, Titanic, truth on November 4, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Dan Gardner writes in Chapter 3 of his book Future Babble: “Overconfidence is a universal human trait closely related to an equally widespread phenomenon known as ‘optimism bias’.” This overconfidence often leads us to assess our risks poorly. We all know about the captain of the Titanic who must have been extremely optimistic before that [...]
Riskczar Haiku #1
Posted in My Opinions, Risk management, tagged Greece, haiku, risk management on November 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This is Riskczar’s first risk management-related haikus. Riskczar Haiku #1 A referendum? You really want debt default George Papandreou?
ERM, Stephen Covey and my 13-year old son
Posted in ERM Basics, Humour, tagged COSO ERM, ERM, laundry, risk, risk management, Stephen Covey on October 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
When my son was 7-years old he asked me what I did for a living. I explained that “Daddy goes to companies and helps them find where all the bad things are.” Ironically, this definition served me well when I had to explain what ERM was to grown ups. While others were quoting definitions from [...]
Risk management, Twitter and sugarless gum
Posted in Humour, tagged ERM, gum, PwC, risk management, RMMagazine, Trident, Twitter on October 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I read two articles yesterday which suggested to me that 1-in-5 people in leadership positions are confused. A PwC survey revealed that only “21% of leaders understand the potential value of social media”. In another survey by Greenwich Associates and reported in Risk Management Magazine, “The study finds that less than 20% of participating companies [...]
They will always find a way to screw you
Posted in ERM Basics, Frameworks, Humour, Office and culture, Risk management, tagged Andrew Hill, AS/NZS 4360, COSO ERM, ERM, FT, Globe and Mail, ISO 31000, Maureen Miskovic, Oswald Grübel, risk culture, risk management, UBS on September 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I worked about six shifts at a Burger King in a shopping mall when I was in my teens. I quit because I didn’t care much for wearing the brown pants and hairnet. On my final night, the closing shift, I helped the veterans take the trash out. When we got to the Dumpster my [...]
CEO Oswald Gruebel reacts to UBS fraud [humour]
Posted in Humour, Risk management, tagged risk management, fraud, derivatives, delta, Maureen Miskovic, UBS, rogue, trader, Adoboli, Swiss, Suisse, Switzerland, Swiss bank, Ghana, Oswald Grübel on September 17, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Here is a reenactment of how UBS CEO Oswald Gruebel reacted when he learned about the $2 billion fraud. (That is Colin Firth portraying Gruebel on the left.) http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DxJvGE7Vvd4M
