My opinion only – I reckon obituaries ought not be used as an opportunity to put the boots in. Today, it was disappointing to see the prominence given to negative criticism of Edward de Bono in the Weekend Financial Review (see below). The snide style of “de Bono was a purveyor of tosh who traded… Read More

In an old fave TV Series of mine, Rumpole of the Bailey used to advise “never ask a question unless you know the answer”. Alright – indeed important – in some contexts, but not realistic when dealing with matters of high uncertainty. Uncertainty is like the proverbial onion. Layered with complexities which can be best… Read More

So, given this context, my two bits worth about what looks to be another “Emergency Risk Management 101” failure. Specifically in the current debacle surrounding Australian citizens and their movement from India. There seems to have been a failure to have adequately applied the risk assessment criteria which has been “around the traps” for over… Read More

Catching up on Tony Boyd’s piece in last weekend’s Financial Review which summaries some important risk management issues we face … and ought to have faced decades ago. Still, tomorrow will have to do … won’t it!?

AgileBCP is now formalised as AgileBCP Pty Ltd. ACN 647843525 Moving from WEM’s development platformWe are having our “Minimum Viable Product“ – a risk based approach to business continuity, Software as a Service – written up by a Python programmer to be put up on Amazon Web Services (AWS) – Cloud Computing Services, in April.… Read More

Trust and empathy are two of the biggest things to “bring to the table”. This is especially so when exploring opportunities to improve. When debriefing – asking what went well … and what did not go so well. Trust, layered with respect and supported by confidentiality, is a mainstay of “good cultures”. Facilitating the “ruminate… Read More

Like many, I have taken some time out over the last few weeks to relax and reflect on the last year. I enjoyed relaxing by immersing myself in the distraction of cricket. Especially in going to the Test Cricket. Providing positive feedback and encouragement 😂🤣😂 to nearby fielders. Reflective reading has also been fun as… Read More

Below are ten principles of leadership from Dick Winters. Winters was elevated to broad public view by “Band of Brothers”. Some of the “follow me” approaches are a little dated in our age of empowerment. However the underpinnings – especially the focus on ethics – are ageless.

A friend of mine recently responded to my having made public our approach to facilitated debriefing by raising the difficulties of how confidentiality is – in the real world – perceived as being almost impossible to achieve. Confidentiality Confidentiality if a fundamental human trait – it is given – and in turn, respected. Is it… Read More

Jason Helps’ responses to the enquiry into quarantine management (Victoria) included the reflection on structure below. The structure to which Helps refers is depicted in the diagram below. It relies on the assumption that an incident management system (which evolved from the context of fighting fires in the USA in the 1980s and since then… Read More

Language is important – and plain, everyday language is worth spending the time to think about – and the time to find. The term “learnings” fails one of my key filter tests – “sure you could (use it), but why would you want to“? An important principle of risk communication is to Keep it Short… Read More

Do you think the importance of thinking is rated too highly? The story of IBM’s use of “THINK” as a corporate calling card dates back to the story of Thomas J. Watson in 1911 interrupting an uninspiring sales meeting, saying “The trouble with every one of us is that we don’t think enough. We don’t… Read More

I have been asked to share one of our generic developmental approaches for your reflection and consideration. As is usually the case, we envisage a collaborative approach. We are enthusiastic to develop the process and outcomes to ensure it meets your needs. Key aspects of the approach are: • Overview – asking the right questions,… Read More

In 1998 while promoting the Australian approach to emergency risk management I used the above quote from Mazzini. It was an opportunity to reset our approach – to move from a focus on hazards to a focus on vulnerability. Similarly, today I share an exciting step we had on 1 June as our AgileBCP software… Read More

In 1998 while promoting the Australian approach to emergency risk management I used the above quote from Mazzini. It was an opportunity to reset our approach – to move from a focus on hazards to a focus on vulnerability. Similarly, today I share an exciting step we had on 1 June as our AgileBCP software… Read More