*/By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc/*
*/Follow us on Twitter/* [1]
Normally when we talk about "baby-steps", we mean taking some incremental
steps or making small incremental changes. I think we should think more
about how a baby learns to walk.
A baby learns to walk by getting up, falling down, adjusting, falling down,
trying something different, making a bit of progress, falling down, trying
something else again, falling down, etc. etc. etc.
A baby does not learn to walk by going to school for 28 years. A baby does
not learn to walk by reading a book, or by studying a regulation. A baby
does not learn to walk by following the best practices of others.
By conventional thinking it is amazing that anyone ever learns to walk.
[1] https://twitter.com/rsdsolutions
Friday, April 18, 2014
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Play in the Grey
*/By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc/*
*/Follow us on Twitter/* [1]
I had a brief chat with a former student of mine earlier this week. As I
have said before, that is one of the big thrills of being a professor –
meeting with your successful alumni. This is a young man who is quite
deliberate and serious about his career and in designing and living the best
life possible. So far he has been very successful at it and I am highly
confident he will continue to be successful going forward.
One of the secrets of success of this young man (and many other young – and
old people) is that he regularly consults with a mentor. It is a brilliant
idea and one that risk managers – particularly those starting out in the
profession should use themselves.
My former student was telling me about how his mentor tells him that he has
to be comfortable with "playing in the grey". In other words, the world
for a person who wants to be successful is not filled with a set of black and
white choices. Instead the person who gets ahead will be the one that can
deal with the ambiguity and the messiness of real world problems and
issues.
Play in the grey. What wonderful advice for a young professional and what
wonderful advice for all risk managers.
[1] https://twitter.com/rsdsolutions
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc/*
*/Follow us on Twitter/* [1]
I had a brief chat with a former student of mine earlier this week. As I
have said before, that is one of the big thrills of being a professor –
meeting with your successful alumni. This is a young man who is quite
deliberate and serious about his career and in designing and living the best
life possible. So far he has been very successful at it and I am highly
confident he will continue to be successful going forward.
One of the secrets of success of this young man (and many other young – and
old people) is that he regularly consults with a mentor. It is a brilliant
idea and one that risk managers – particularly those starting out in the
profession should use themselves.
My former student was telling me about how his mentor tells him that he has
to be comfortable with "playing in the grey". In other words, the world
for a person who wants to be successful is not filled with a set of black and
white choices. Instead the person who gets ahead will be the one that can
deal with the ambiguity and the messiness of real world problems and
issues.
Play in the grey. What wonderful advice for a young professional and what
wonderful advice for all risk managers.
[1] https://twitter.com/rsdsolutions
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Minutia
*/By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc/*
*/Follow us on Twitter/* [1]
My sister somehow seems to find all of the most anal-retentive specialists in
the world. Her dentist makes her brush her teeth for three minutes (with a
timer), and her auto-mechanic has her change her oil every 3,000 kilometers
instead of the more usual 5,000 kilometers.
My sister's optometrist is also in on the act by telling my sister that her
glasses will last much longer if she takes them off (and puts them on) with
two hands rather than the more usual one. I did an admittedly unscientific
survey, but I could find no one who had their glasses "wear-out" due to
unnecessary wear from taking their glasses off and on by using only one
hand. What happens to most people is that their glasses go out of style,
their prescription change and with it they change the style of glasses they
wear, or most commonly they drop or sit on their glasses and break them. No
one I talked to wore out their glasses.
I am quite sure that if I had an IKEA type robot that continually took off
and put on glasses 24 / 7 that I would find that after a while the robot that
used "one-hand" would wear the glasses out faster than the robot that
used "two-hands". That is not the point though. The point is that we
often focus on the minutia (whether you put glasses on and off with one hand
or two) and ignore the much bigger issue such as how you can avoid the much
more common and detrimental sitting on your glasses and crushing them
forever. Risk management might be in the minutia, but it does not mean that
we should remain there.
[1] https://twitter.com/rsdsolutions
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc/*
*/Follow us on Twitter/* [1]
My sister somehow seems to find all of the most anal-retentive specialists in
the world. Her dentist makes her brush her teeth for three minutes (with a
timer), and her auto-mechanic has her change her oil every 3,000 kilometers
instead of the more usual 5,000 kilometers.
My sister's optometrist is also in on the act by telling my sister that her
glasses will last much longer if she takes them off (and puts them on) with
two hands rather than the more usual one. I did an admittedly unscientific
survey, but I could find no one who had their glasses "wear-out" due to
unnecessary wear from taking their glasses off and on by using only one
hand. What happens to most people is that their glasses go out of style,
their prescription change and with it they change the style of glasses they
wear, or most commonly they drop or sit on their glasses and break them. No
one I talked to wore out their glasses.
I am quite sure that if I had an IKEA type robot that continually took off
and put on glasses 24 / 7 that I would find that after a while the robot that
used "one-hand" would wear the glasses out faster than the robot that
used "two-hands". That is not the point though. The point is that we
often focus on the minutia (whether you put glasses on and off with one hand
or two) and ignore the much bigger issue such as how you can avoid the much
more common and detrimental sitting on your glasses and crushing them
forever. Risk management might be in the minutia, but it does not mean that
we should remain there.
[1] https://twitter.com/rsdsolutions
Monday, April 14, 2014
Blog comments
Unfortunately someone has been anonimously adding many rude, insulting and sometimes libellous comments to our blogs. These comments are personal and unrelated in any way to the subject of the blogs. We are deleting these as soon as possible. The internet is a wonderful forum for exchanging and developing ideas. However it also provides opportunities for those who have nothing useful to contribute to indulge in unpleasant and immature behaviour.
Unfortunately we may have inadvertently delated some genuine comments and for this we apologise. We welcome constructive and relevant comments on our blogs, of which we have had many, and this does not necessarily mean agreeing with them.
Unfortunately we may have inadvertently delated some genuine comments and for this we apologise. We welcome constructive and relevant comments on our blogs, of which we have had many, and this does not necessarily mean agreeing with them.
Hadfield
*/By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc/*
*/Follow us on Twitter/* [1]
Went to see a talk by Chris Hadfield yesterday at Dalhousie University.
Chris Hadfield is Canada's most famous astronaut, who is perhaps best known
internationally for commanding the International Space Station and for
this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo [2]
I previously wrote a review of Chris Hadfield's book for this blog series
http://www.rsdsolutions.com/blogs/rick-nason/2014/31/astronaut%E2%80%99s-guide-life-earth
[3] and commented that it would make an excellent risk training manual or
textbook.
After the talk, which was excellent, the President of the University got up
to thank Chris Hadfield for his talk. During his thanks, the President said
something that caught my ear. The comment was "You (Chris Hadfield) have
a real gift for connecting with people".
During the talk Chris Hadfield had us all spellbound as he described the life
of an astronaut that is going on the shuttle or on a Soyuz rocket to the
International Space Station. It is something that few (very very few) of us
will ever experience. Yet Commander Hadfield had a way of keeping us all on
the edge of our seats as we rode along with him. He connected with everyone
in the audience.
Connecting with an audience is a very valuable skill to have if you plan on
making a living as a professional speaker. Connecting with an audience
however is critical if you are to be a value-added risk manager.
[1] https://twitter.com/rsdsolutions
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo
[3]
http://www.rsdsolutions.com/blogs/rick-nason/2014/31/astronaut%E2%80%99s-guide-life-earth
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc/*
*/Follow us on Twitter/* [1]
Went to see a talk by Chris Hadfield yesterday at Dalhousie University.
Chris Hadfield is Canada's most famous astronaut, who is perhaps best known
internationally for commanding the International Space Station and for
this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo [2]
I previously wrote a review of Chris Hadfield's book for this blog series
http://www.rsdsolutions.com/blogs/rick-nason/2014/31/astronaut%E2%80%99s-guide-life-earth
[3] and commented that it would make an excellent risk training manual or
textbook.
After the talk, which was excellent, the President of the University got up
to thank Chris Hadfield for his talk. During his thanks, the President said
something that caught my ear. The comment was "You (Chris Hadfield) have
a real gift for connecting with people".
During the talk Chris Hadfield had us all spellbound as he described the life
of an astronaut that is going on the shuttle or on a Soyuz rocket to the
International Space Station. It is something that few (very very few) of us
will ever experience. Yet Commander Hadfield had a way of keeping us all on
the edge of our seats as we rode along with him. He connected with everyone
in the audience.
Connecting with an audience is a very valuable skill to have if you plan on
making a living as a professional speaker. Connecting with an audience
however is critical if you are to be a value-added risk manager.
[1] https://twitter.com/rsdsolutions
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo
[3]
http://www.rsdsolutions.com/blogs/rick-nason/2014/31/astronaut%E2%80%99s-guide-life-earth
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