It amuses me listening to people talk about risk management concepts when they don’t understand them. I once attended a meeting of project managers and witnessed a number of these Pretty Mediocre People argue about whether something was a risk…
Cannabis risk management
You’re a licensed producer under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) and already being inspected by Health Canada. So what do you need more risk management for? First, what you are doing for Health Canada is not…
Operational Risk: The Truth Is Out There
With new episodes of 1990s hit series The X-Files airing in January, it got me thinking about the show’s tagline “The Truth Is Out There” and how it applies to the cloak and dagger world of operational risk. The X-Files…
Beach risk management
I’m off to Virginia Beach later this month so it seemed fitting that today’s post has a beach theme. This quote comes from Chapter 7 of Nathan Englander’s book “The Ministry of Special Cases” and you should remember these words whenever…
The Great Plague of London and root causes of risk
One of the hardest parts in documenting your risks is figuring out the root cause of the risk being analyzed. If this is done poorly, we will spend time and money treating the wrong root causes and the risk may…
Angry Birds risk management
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…
Ned Stark. Hand of the King. Chief Risk Officer.
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…
ERM, Stephen Covey and my 13-year old son
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…
Lord Voldemort: Risk Manager of the Year
Lord Voldermort would make an excellent risk manager because when he identifies a risk, he assesses it and treats it immediately. Here are a few of my reasons but I welcome additional examples of his risk management in the comment…