Planning Documents

By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

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I worked for an organization that in one area was still very much in a growth mode.  In essence the organization was taking on a new project and the project manager was a lively and energetic person who had a knack for getting things done.  

The launch of the new product was a smashing success and the project manager cemented their reputation for getting things done.  As the new project rolled along, more people were added to the team and slowly things started to become institutionalized.  As more administrators were added, the demand for process and planning documents increased.  However there was a problem; the project manager who brought the project to life and who was still the key player in making things successful was not all that skilled in process and planning documentation creation.  This created a problem as the demand for more and more structure took hold.  It was not long before the project manager was pushed out.

You can probably stop reading as I suspect you know how things ended.  With the original project manager out, the number of processes and planning documents increased, while the quality of the project declined to such a state as to declare it unsustainable.

Professional managers often confuse process and planning documents for getting things done.  Only getting things done is getting things done.  Furthermore, the more experience working with people I have, the more I understand that the skills in getting things done are not the same skills that lead to creating process and planning documents.   This holds for projects and it holds for risk management.

Oliver Sacks

By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

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The legendary neurologist Oliver Sacks, whose books and experiences as a doctor become famous as the material on which the movie Awakenings was based, passed away at the end of August.  Dr. Sacks was renowned for his ability to deal with people who had severe neurological conditions.  However as his obituary in the Economist (September 5, 2015) points out;

“ … his compulsion sprang from the fact that he was no good at medical research; that data-driven “testability” in the lab repelled him, whereas talking to patients, shy as he was, opened a door into private landscapes that were magical, challenging and almost unfathomable.  “Empiricism”, he wrote, “takes no account of the soul.”

“Empiricism takes no account of the soul” is something that risk managers need to take into their soul.  Virtually all of risk and risk management is based on the emotions and actions of people.  People have souls which drive their emotions and actions.  Empiricism is only the basis of action for the most shallow amongst us.  Talking, as opposed to data collection has something to recommend to not only neurology, but also risk management.

Aylan Kurdi

By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

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By now you have likely seen the unforgettable picture of Aylan Kurdi, the three year old Syrian refugee boy whose lifeless body tragically washed up on the shores of a beach in Turkey.  Immediately the image was flashed around the world and transformed in an instance the global sentiment about the plight of the Syrian refugees.  The incredibly sad picture changed all of the numbers and statistics of the refugee crisis into a different realm. 

Pictures have the power to dramatically change perceptions and mobilize people and societies to action.  It is a common saying that a picture is worth a thousand words.  If that is true, then it is also true that a single picture is worth a million pieces of data.  What pictures does your risk management need to mobilize and make real the need for effective risk management?