Tag: risk

Operational Resilience and Continuity – without the drama

Our consulting offer for vulnerable times. The gap most mid-sized firms face Most firms have bits and pieces of business continuity, risk, and IT/DR work, but too often: Plans are outdated or don’t match how operations actually run today. • Operations, IT, risk, and suppliers each see their own slice – no one owns the… Read More

UNIVERSAL FRAMEWORK – Domain 7. Governance & Accountability – evidence notes

Metric: % of material issues closed on time (audit, reviews, incidents) E1 – Exists (Gateway Evidence) Do defined governance roles, accountabilities, and issue management processes exist? E2 – Enabled Are issue owners supported with authority, tracking, and escalation mechanisms? E3 – Executed Are material issues reliably closed on time, with consequences for non-closure? Evidence and… Read More

How do you “see“ your organization?

Each lens is useful for different purposes. Our clients find the “systems and processes” lens particularly useful when checking for “bloat” or “waste”. This is worth doing occasionally as organizations can become misshaped or bigger than they need to be. The two most useful approaches which our clients use to address this need are:

Believe it or not – systems, frameworks and capability assessments are still popular.

“Continuous improvement” is a clique – bordering on rhetoric … unless it is embraced within a culture as a worthy assumption. As something worth building on … and with. Management Systems – whether they are about quality, risk or business continuity – all benefit from occassional review to provide assurance that ‘the ship is on… Read More

Add silent scooters – and silent policy – as one of your hazards

In Melbourne on the weekend I was nearly “cleaned up” a couple of times with near miss e scooter incidents. So I thought I’d do a quick check on some questions around whether it’s an issue in Melbourne – and elsewhere. The answer is YES In England In Adelaide A hazard – whispering up behind… Read More

What might coming out the other side look like?

Beyond the jargon of “petri dish and pivot” there are opportunities in ‘the risk’. Wherever we start from, I think it is useful to – stealing a Steve Covey line of “end in mind” – be clear about our preferred Outcomes and necessary and sufficient Outputs. The models and frameworks sketched out below use a… Read More

Move over “resilience”

Move over “resilience” – make room in the disaster management lexicon for “uninsurable enclaves”. It has been recognised for nearly five decades that disaster risk is a function of hazard and vulnerability.  Our efforts have focused on supporting those at risk to be more resilient – more prepared. This focus – I suggest – has… Read More

It’s not rocket science

How often have you heard someone say that in a conversation? It may not be “rocket science” (that is to say “requiring the application of expertise”) to them, but it is just rude to be dismissive. It alienates and it isolates. It erodes respect. Things which are “not rocket science” are often just not very… Read More

Can you manage uncertainty in three straightforward steps?

Management processes should always be as simple as possible – yet as complex as is necessary. First, clear, understandable, straightforward risk statements come out of mindful conversations about context. Second, we assess risks – not as an academic exercise – but in order to determine whether we need to do anything about those risks. So… Read More