Greg Hutchins - Thought Leader

Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Despite our collective educational establishments that purport to teach so that people can learn, ‘education’ is not necessarily learning.  Mark Twain wrote disparagingly that “Education consists mainly in what we have unlearned” and also that he never let schooling interfere with his own education.  Education is not necessarily knowledge and real learning comes from the application of theory tempered with experience which will make for better decisions and better outcomes.  Benjamin Franklin’s words from over 200 years’ ago “Tell me, I forget. Teach me, I remember. Involve me and I learn” still ring true today.

Guest Post by Daniel Burrus (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

We cannot turn back the clocks and undo the damage the pandemic has done, but we can move forward with an anticipatory mindset and a firm plan of action. For many decades now, and in all industries, digital disruption has been on an exponential curve upward. Because the pandemic forced us to turn to technology for help on both a personal and business level, the pace of technology-driven change increased dramatically, far beyond merely exponential levels. Now that this change has been set in motion, the question remains: What do we do now?

Guest Post by James Kline (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is considered an important management tool and part of good public sector governance in Australia. The Commonwealth of Australia and the states of Victoria and New South Wales have implemented ERM. In addition, the states of Tasmania and Western Australia have issued good governance frameworks which include risk management.  This piece will provide a historical overview of the risk management approach used by the Australian State of Victoria. It will then discuss the changes made in the 2020 revisions to its 2018 Victorian Government Risk Management Framework.

Guest Post by Daniel Burrus (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

For some, the post-coronavirus “new normal” is a frightening concept that rattles their status quo, while others are taking this moment to seize new opportunities afforded to us by a global disruption, as COVID-19 has proven to be. The fact of the matter is that aforementioned opportunity is available to all of us, whether our “new normal” is unbearably difficult or extremely simple.

You may be asking yourself: How is that possible?

Guest Post by James Kline (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Dr. Davison has more than 30 years’ experience in environmental management, integrated water cycle management and risk assessment.  Davison has more than 30 years’ experience in environmental management, integrated water cycle management and risk assessment. She is the Principal Risk Analyst and founding Director of Risk Edge® Pty Ltd. and co-founder and R&D Manager, D2K Information Pty Ltd. She received her PhD in Environmental Biochemistry and Microbiology from Macquarie University. Her most recent book is entitled: The Application of ISO 31000 to Drinking Water Quality Risk Management: A Practical Approach. It is published by Edge Pty Ltd, Sydney Australia.

Guest Post by John Ayers (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

What does the future hold for project management?   Remote and flexible work arrangements were trends prior to COVID-19. The pandemic greatly accelerated the trends and a lot of it will be permanent well after the virus is tamed. Remote work arrangement means any work you do that dose not require commuting into an office. A flexible work arrangement are alternate arrangements or schedules from the traditional working day and week. Employees may choose a different work schedule to meet personal or family needs

This paper discusses the risks these changes will have on project management for future work. It does not present new technologies and the risks they will impose on projects. This is a subject for another paper.

Guest Post by James Kline (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

This piece will examine how the move away from quality management to risk management in United Kingdom local governments developed and how risk management became a mandate. It will then move to the specific by looking at Cheltenham Borough Council’s risk management policy and aspects of the 2018 Audit Committee Annual Risk Management Report. It will close with some observation on where risk and quality management are being used together.

Guest Post by James Kline (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

James Toney has more than thirty years of experience in the quality profession. His clients have included the U.S. Department of Labor, IRS, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Navy, Housing and Urban Development, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Health and Human Services. Commercial clients included financial, telecommunications, hospitality, educational, and healthcare organizations.

Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

You wait 15 minutes for people to turn up, call-in, or get on-line.  Some may have popped down to Starbucks to get their daily fix of skinny hazelnut caramel latte, or green tea or Evian water.  The punctual few chit-chat away about anything and everything except the meeting agenda in case they commit some anticipatory faux pas.  Then there are those, particularly the decision makers, who let everybody know that they only have a certain amount of time available; they will need to leave promptly so they won’t be late for their next meeting and with all plausible deniability may avoid decisions and conclusions; but wasn’t that the point of the meeting?

Guest Post by Andrew Sheves (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Asking ‘what is risk management?’ often gets you the trite answer ‘it’s the management of risk’ or we get a list of activities associated with risk management. Neither result is satisfying and we need a better definition that explains the intent of risk management along with some clarification of what this is and is not. Here, I’ve presented some initial ideas on a definition along with four components that should give us a more thorough definition. 

Guest Post by John Ayers (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Studies show that the majority of companies today outsource up to 60-70% of their work scope to subcontractors to stay competitive. As a result, subcontractors are a major source of risk to a project.

How to minimize the subcontractor risk on a project is addressed in this paper. The approach to do this is based on my 30 years of project and project risk management experience and knowledge.

Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

I was once taught that good project management and mitigating the risk of failure was a combination of Fayol’s three pillars of planning, organising and controlling glued together by effective communication and enclosed in a bubble of morale.  I was later to learn that that if one overindulges or ignores any one pillar, or fails to communicate effectively rather than just efficiently, the oftentimes thin bubble of morale may rupture.  The unfortunate result is the loss of management coherence and the real possibility of project failure.

Guest Post by Daniel Burrus (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

These days, you can find a slurry of memes and motivational graphics on social media alluding to the concept that you must always beat out your competition in business. But contrary to popular belief, competing with other businesses is actually quite counterproductive, especially in the post-pandemic “new normal” we face – something we never expected to be facing as we entered this new decade.

Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

A project with a problem…not a new phenomenon and more likely than not ‘business as usual’ for most, but how do we address the problems on our projects?

Theoretically there’s the risk register and plan with a predetermined set of mitigation actions and designated owners who, although being potential scapegoats, are expected to manage risks magnificently while still dealing with the rest of their, hopefully, nonproblematic scope.  Problems plague projects despite alleged prior preparation and proper planning.  But it’s the way that people behave and interact that can make all the difference when resolving the problem and keeping the rest of the project on-track.