The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

Now displaying: May, 2016

Ep. 13: Stéphane Bussard - Diplomacy, History, the Individual Experience, and the Craft of a Foreign Correspondent 0

May 31, 2016

Today we talk history, international diplomacy, and the life of a foreign correspondent in the USA. My guest is Stéphane Bussard. Stéphane is the US correspondent at Le Temps (www.letemps.ch), the leading French-language newspaper in Switzerland and a world-class publication.

Stéphane has a very interesting background which has included being an exchange student in Leipzig, in late 1989 when it was still known as East Germany or the German Democratic Republic, and being an eye witness to the fall of the Berlin Wall, one of the most monumental events in the history of the 20th Century. This event greatly influenced Stéphane’s decision to become a journalist and a foreign correspondent in particular.

We talk about this in the episode, as well as loads of other interesting topics:

•Geneva, and its place in world diplomacy;

•Uncovering secret talks between the United States, the EU and Iran;

•Being a foreign correspondent in the USA;

•Stéphane’s work tracing Barack Obama’s youth and how it shaped him as a President;

•Stéphane’s take on Obama’s legacy, including thoughts on Iran and Cuba;

•His coverage of the civil rights movement;

•The Ferguson riots;

•The upcoming US elections;

•The role of the media and journalism

•And more!

Show notes:

Stéphane on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BussardS

Stéphane on Linkedin: http://bit.ly/1UbXQpP

Some of Stéphane’s work:

http://www.letemps.ch/societe/2013/08/06/traces-barack-obama

http ://www.letemps.ch/societe/2013/08/06/traces-barack-obama

http ://www.letemps.ch/monde/2014/07/30/amerique-noire-barack-obama

http ://www.letemps.ch/monde/2014/07/29/lyndon-johnson-guide-revolution-droits-civiques

http ://www.letemps.ch/monde/2014/07/28/selma-montgomery-marche-une-citoyennete-part-entiere

http ://www.letemps.ch/monde/2014/07/27/route-droits-civiques

http ://www.letemps.ch/monde/2014/07/27/james-meredith-cet-anti-heros

http ://www.letemps.ch/monde/2014/11/21/reportage-ferguson-menacee-un-verdict-explosif

http ://www.letemps.ch/monde/2009/04/07/discussions-secretes-geneve

http ://www.letemps.ch/monde/2014/12/14/cuba-etats-unis-un-obstacle-ouverture

http ://www.letemps.ch/monde/2014/12/17/pari-ouverture

http ://www.letemps.ch/monde/2014/12/14/cubains-ont-un-mode-pensee-beaucoup-plus-independant

http ://www.letemps.ch/no-section/2015/05/18/cuba-un-peuple-entre-espoir-crainte-veille-grand-basculement

http ://www.letemps.ch/no-section/2015/05/18/el-paquete-internet-pauvre-fureur-cuba

http ://www.letemps.ch/monde/2015/07/01/cuba-etats-unis-percee-diplomatique-historique

http ://www.letemps.ch/monde/2016/03/11/negociations-secretes-brisent-un-mythe

http ://www.letemps.ch/suisse/2010/10/23/negociations-secretes-ombre-geneve

Track Andre Goeritz, one of my listeners, as he attempts a world record cycling: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0HovQyalscNazqL9rXbQunbbqhUot4PlK

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Inbetweenisode: How to Take Risks - Regret Versus Disappointment 0

May 24, 2016

This is a short "inbetweenisode" in which I discuss how to take risks intelligently through knowing the difference between the "zone of regret" and the "zone of disappointment". I also leverage a quote from Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai, as read by Forest Whitaker in the 1999 movie "Ghost Dog".

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Ep. 12: Kevin Knabe - Design, the Making of Sense, and How "Everything" Came to be the Way it is 0

May 17, 2016

How did everything come to be the way it is? My guest in Episode 12 of the podcast (I very deliberately decided to post this conversation in Episode 12 – listen to the episode to find out why), runs a blog and is working on a forthcoming book that attempts to answer this very question.

Kevin Knabe is a User Experience Designer. He has worked at Apple (although not when Steve Jobs was there as Kevin points out!), Rodale and other leading organisations . He designs and improves the way we work with products. His blog (and book by the same name) is called “The Making of Sense” (www.themakingofsense.com). It’s awesome.

In it, Kevin applies his design background to all kinds of things and asks the simple question, “why did they design it like that?” When you read his posts, you come to understand that many of the things that we take for granted and our quite common in our everyday experience were actually designed on the basis of randomness, quirks of history, the needs or other factors present whenever the thing was invented, and many other interesting phenomena. I find the whole concept behind his blog and book to be strangely empowering.

In this episode, Kevin share many of the excerpts from his blog and forthcoming book and it makes for a very interesting and fun conversation. We talk about:

•The origin of language and writing;

•Numbers

•The origin of the calendar – and how it could be improved (including a proposal to celebrate Festivus);

•The concept of time – where Kevin discusses Einstein and the theory of relativity, a very trippy part of the conversation;

•Music

•Art

•Randomness and risk in design

•And more

I am sure that you will enjoy it!

Show notes:

•Kevin’s site – “The Making of Sense” - http://www.themakingofsense.com /

•Find Kevin professionally - http://www.knabedesign.com /

•Kevin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/makingofsense

•The backwards brain bicycle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzDaBzBlL0

•Track Andre Goeritz, one of my listeners, as he attempts a world record cycling: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0HovQyalscNazqL9rXbQunbbqhUot4PlK

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Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com

Visit: www.allthingsrisk.com

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Ep. 11: Anna Glover - Creativity, Risk, The Performing Arts, and How to Let Your Path Find You 0

May 10, 2016

Have you been to the theatre lately? Perhaps you’ve attended a performance at the National Theatre in London, or watched a broadcast of one at your local cinema. If so, you’ll know that they do some amazing things at these live productions - performers float or even ”fly”, shows have live birds flying, and they even set things on fire. How do these productions do these things within the confines of a theatre or arts centre, and how do they balance risk while maintaining the artistic integrity of the production?

Enter, stage right, my guest on today’s episode, Ms. Anna Glover. Anna leads the Safety Risk and Fire Management team at the world renowned National Theatre here in London. As you will soon find out, Anna does NOT do Health and Safety risk. Rather, she and her team are a core part of these internationally acclaimed shows – full stop. The work she does embodies what great risk management is all about – taking risk with intelligence and confidence – and achieving great things in the process. We obviously cover this fascinating line of work in the episode – including her work with top directors, choreographers, designers, and actors, and on some amazing shows.

But, there is much more to Anna than this. We have a great conversation around how Anna got into this line of work. This is a wonderful example of how to find your path – or more precisely, how to let it find you. We move on to have a great discussion about Anna’s philosophy on risk, fear, and many other things. We also cover:

•What she learned from working with Juliette Binoche

•Her time in North Wales from studying to running an outdoor pursuits on a military base

•Her “run in” with Sir Ranulph Fiennes

•Martial arts – Anna is a second dan in the Korean art of hapkido

•Finding your path

•And much, much more

This is an amazing episode and I am sure you will enjoy it!

Show notes:

Anna Glover's website - http://annagloverconsulting.com/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/annajglover

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annagloverconsulting/

Some people Anna has worked with:

•Phyllida Lloyd, CBE is a British director, best known for her work in theatre and as the director of Mamma Mia! and The Iron Lady - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllida_Lloyd

•Paule Constable is a British lighting designer who won the 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2013 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design. She was also a nominee for four further productions and for a 2007 Tony Award on Broadway - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paule_Constable

•Catherine Mallyon - Executive Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company - https://www.rsc.org.uk/about-us/whos-who/catherine-mallyon-executive-director

•Mark Dakin Technical -Director of the Royal Opera House - http://www.theatrecraft.org/leaders/mark-dakin /

•”War Horse” – http://www.warhorseonstage.com /

“The Light Princess” – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Princess-Original-Cast-Recording/dp/B0131W0S4Q

Book recommendation – Creativity, Inc.by Ed Catmull - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18077903-creativity-inc?from_search=true&search_version=service

Book recommendation – The Organised Mind by Daniel Levitin - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693669-the-organized-mind?ac=1&from_search=true

Joint Service Mountain Training Centre - http://www.nuffieldanglesey.org.uk /

Llanfairpwllgwyngyll - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

Chang’s Hapkido Academy - http://www.changshapkido.net /

Poem – “The Bright Field” by RS Thomas: http://emilyspoetryblog.com/2013/10/23/the-bright-field-by-r-s-thomas /

I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the
pearl of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realise now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying

on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.

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Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings

Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com

Visit: www.allthingsrisk.com

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Ep 10: Daniel Wagner - Geopolitics, Risk Agility, Country Risk - and Robert Plant 0

May 3, 2016

Today we talk geopolitics, career paths, and much more with my guest Daniel Wagner. Daniel is the founder and CEO of Country Risk Solutions and a veteran of country and political risk management. He has been a practitioner in this fascinating area of risk for many years – he has written a couple of books on the topic and several articles. He frequently appears on CNN, RT, the Huffington Post, and other media outlets to offer his views on international affairs.

What is country and political risk? If you are new to this field, or don’t know much about it, it is basically the management of risks created by political actors or political conditions. So, it might be things like the prospect of war or political violence in a country in which your organisation is working, policy uncertainty, or things of that nature. I have worked in this area, and it is certainly fascinating.

Like many great conversations however, this one starts with Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin. Daniel interviewed Robert Plant in the early 1980s on MTV - an interesting story. From there, we move into how Daniel got into country risk and his career path to date. We also riff about a number of interesting topics such as the role of China, multilateral institutions, and the upcoming US elections (Bernie Sanders, Hilary Clinton, Donald Trump). Daniel also offers his thoughts and philosophies on risk management generally and we discuss his upcoming book Global Risk Agility and Decision-Making. We will have Daniel and his co-author Dante Disparte on a future episode to get more into the nuts and bolts of the book.

Show notes:

Country Risk Solutions: www.countryrisksolutions.com

Daniel’s book, Country Risk, A Practitioner’s Guide: http://www.amazon.com/Managing-Country-Risk-Practitioners-Cross-Border/dp/1466500476/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462225124&sr=1-3

Daniel’s forthcoming book: Global Risk Agility and Decision Making (Macmillan, July 2016): http://www.amazon.com/Global-Risk-Agility-Decision-Making/dp/1349948594/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456840522&sr=8-1&keywords=global+risk+agility+and+decision+making

Articles written by Daniel: http://countryrisksolutions.com/publications.html

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Country-Risk-Solutions/206650596087696?sk=wall

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/danielwagnercrs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/countryriskmgmt

Daniel on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CountryRiskSolutions

Daniel’s interview with Robert Plant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIvEBNf5TfA

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