Risk Management

Stay one step ahead of the sheep

February 1, 2012

Mark Twain and Jesus had it right when they said we all are sheep. Business improvement guru and Good to Great author Jim Collins makes the same point in Great by Choice. There, he debunks some myths.

Risk-taking leads to big Patriot wins

January 5, 2011

Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, has spent 16 years turning one of the sorriest NFL franchises into one of the most feared and admired. Along with head coach Bill Belichick, he and the Patriots have won three Super Bowls and more games in the past 10 years than any other NFL team in any decade. In his pursuit of the team and the stadium, Kraft revealed how gifted he is at risk-taking.

Help them get comfortable with risk

December 30, 2010

Encourage your people to take risks? The very idea is enough to make many CEOs shudder. Doug Stern, CEO of United Media, follows an explicit process anytime he faces a new, risky project. He uses the same tactics to help his team evaluate risks and build its confidence about confronting the unknown:

Deepwater disaster: Who’s in charge?

July 9, 2010

Heads-up when you hear arguments about who’s in charge. That means no one’s in charge … The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in April points to more than a pile of ad hoc exceptions to safety rules. It also points to an epic failure of leadership. Who was in charge: BP, the well’s owner, or Transocean, the rig’s owner?

2 flaws in BP’s leadership

June 14, 2010

The oil spill that has threatened both the sea life and the economy in the Gulf Coast illustrates two major flaws in the leadership of British Petroleum CEO Tony Hayward: He allowed the company to run ahead of the technology available, and he blindly trusted outsourcing.

6 risk management mistakes

January 11, 2010

Here are six ways to guard against “black swan events,” those rare but catastrophic disasters that can take everything down with them, adapted from “The Six Mistakes Executives Make in Risk Management.”