This episode’s guest is Chris Hess. Chris happens to be a friend of mine from way back in my high school days. He, like me, has created an international career. And he is also based in the UK. I invited him to be a guest on the show because his professional experience and expertise is very interesting, and right up the street of this show's themes. Chris is a partner with Hesmur, a boutique consultancy focused on the insurance and wealth management sectors. He helps clients to address changing marketplaces, to digitize their businesses, and to build resilience.
Prior to this, Chris has been an entrepreneur and a senior executive. This has included stints doing business in both Russia and China, and obviously we talk about that. We also talk about taking risk, about decision-making, about startups. We talk about last year's UK mini-budget crisis, as Chris worked with many pension funds and had a unique view of the event. And if you aren't based in the UK, this was the crisis that almost took down the British economy and ended up taking down, the government of Liz Truss. We also talk about planning, the use of experts, and a lot more.
Show notes:
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In this episode, we look at decision-making in the world of deep sea diving, a topic that provides us with so many transferable lessons to other domains. It is also a very fun conversation. My guest is Gareth Lock. Gareth is the founder of The Human Diver, an organisation that improves the effectiveness of diving skills through specific human factors training.
Gareth has had a long career as a diver, starting out his career in the Royal Air Force where he spent 25 years. Over the years he realised that one thing the military does very well is teamwork – which, of course makes sense because poor decisions, bad behaviour and a lack of situational awareness can cost lives. Gareth found that the world of diving focused heavily on technical expertise – obviously important – but emphasised human behaviours and decision-making less than it should. As a result, he brings these approaches to the diving profession. Gareth has led many complex dives all over the world. He has also taken a huge amount of amazing underwater photos which you can see on his website.
This conversation is filled with wonderful insights about decision-making, working in teams, planning, the importance of constructive dissent, psychological safety, a just culture, making change happen, systems thinking and much more.
Show notes:
The Human Diver, Gareth’s website
Gareth’s book Under Pressure – Diving Deeper with Human Factors
Gareth’s documentary ‘If Only’
Steve Shorrock on Human Factors
Blog post: “Near misses: Were you lucky or good?”
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
Join the Club by Tina Rosenberg
Kotter’s 8 step model for leading change
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The Inbetweenisode makes a return! This one is based on this article - https://medium.com/@bcattaneo/when-do-you-cross-the-rubicon-a-useful-technique-to-frame-decisions-e4fcdf6e9da3
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In this episode, I have the honour of welcoming Grant Purdy to the show. Grant, for those of you who may not have heard of him, has a 40+ year career in helping decision-makers make great decisions. This has involved enabling great conversations, and providing sufficient certainty to decision-makers in the achievement of their intended outcomes.
Grant is also considered one of the ‘founders’ of the thing commonly referred to as ‘risk management’, having co-wrote the world’s first risk management standard in the 1990s and later, ISO 31000, the best-known risk management standard. As you will hear however, the practice of traditional risk management has turned into something that has nothing to do with decision-making. It has become, according to Grant, a ‘millstone’ around the necks of organisations and something akin to a religious belief system together with sacred artefacts and evangelists. It’s something we need to drop, he says. If you work professionally in risk management, I urge you to listen and reflect on this.
If you don’t work in traditional risk management, you are still a decision-maker. Therefore, you are the person for whom Grant and his co-author, the late Roger Estall wrote Deciding – A Guide to Even Better Decision-Making. Grant provides us with a number of insights from the book.
Sadly, Roger passed away the day before we recorded this episode. Grant opens with a lovely tribute to Roger who perhaps saved more lives than any other New Zealander through his work. Deepest condolences go out to Rogers’s family, friends, and everyone who knew and worked with him.
Show notes:
Deciding – A Guide to Even Better Decision-Making
The risk management ‘millstone’
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Today, we talk about thriving on disruption. My guest is Roger Spitz. Roger is the President of Techisential, an organisation focused on climate and foresight strategy which works with the leadership teams of some of the world’s most prominent organisations. He is also the Chair of the Disruptive Futures Institute, and education platform that teaches us how we can thrive on disruption. He spent two decades working in the world of venture capital and investment banking, advising founders and CEOs.
For the purposes of this conversation, Roger is the co-author of Thriving on Disruption – Essential Frameworks for Disruption and Uncertainty. The guide is premised on the fact that disruption is a constant in our lives, and is expanding fast. It is comprehensive and very practical, with tools and techniques aimed at helping readers be more resilient and seize opportunities. It involves ‘casting aside assumptions, throwing out old playbooks, rewiring our mindset, embracing the unknown and taking agency of our own futures.’ This is a nutrient-dense conversation that covers everything from Zen Buddhism to AI.
Show notes:
The Disruptive Futures Institute
Thriving on Disruption – Essential Frameworks for Disruption and Uncertainty
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
Today, we have a fabulous conversation with Christian Hunt who is making his third appearance on the show. This time he joins me to talk about his excellent new book Humanising Rules – Bringing Behavioural Science to Ethics and Compliance. The book is all about using practical techniques ‘that work with – rather than against – the grain of natural human decision-making’ in designing and implementing rules. In the book and in this episode, Christian challenges widely-held assumptions about managing the risks posed by people and their relationship with rules. As Christian so often aptly puts it rule-makers need to not just think about how ‘ they’d like people to behave, but how likely people are to behave.’
If you’ve not come across Christian before, he is the founder of Human Risk, a consultancy that brings behavioural science to ethics and compliance. He is also the host and producer of his own show, The Human Risk Podcast. He is always engaging and challenges our thinking. After listening to this, no matter if you are a rule-maker, rule-taker or rule-breaker (and at times, we are all of those things), you won’t ever think about rules in quite the same way again.
Show notes:
Sander Van Der Linden on All Things Risk
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
Today, we spend some time in the world of marketing talking about how people make choices – and how behavioural science and AI can help us make better choices. My guest is Jen Clinehens. Jen is all about making business more human and is the founder of Choice Hacking, a consultancy that approaches customer experiences with a combination of behavioural science and psychology as well as cutting-edge AI tools.
Jen has a very interesting background and worldview – she spent time as a musician and in the creative industries before working in business and later founding Choice Hacking. We spend time talking about that, about how consumers make choices and what we can learn from that, the differences between marketing and manipulation, AI, and much more.
Show notes:
Nike’s Michael Jordan ‘Failure’ ad
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
Today, we talk about how big things get done. A ‘big thing’ can mean a large infrastructure project, an IT project at work, or something in your personal life like a home renovation, a big adventure, or an event you’re organising. The sad truth is, the vast majority – in fact, almost – big projects end up over budget, delayed, and they don’t provide the planned benefits. This is something well-researched and backed up by data. It is the ‘Iron Law of Mega Projects’ as you will hear.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that joining us on this episode of the podcast is Professor Bent Flyvbjerg who is the world’s leading megaproject expert. Prof. Flyvbjerg teaches at the University of Oxford and the IT University of Copenhagen. He has consulted on over 100 megaprojects costing $1 billion or more and has been knighted by the Queen of Denmark. He is the co-author of the fantastic new book How Big Things Get Done – The Surprising Factors Behind Every Successful Project From Home Renovations to Space Exploration.
Bent joins in what I think is a fabulous conversation in which he shares:
· The Iron Law of Mega Projects;
· Why projects ‘don’t go wrong, they start wrong’;
· Why projects are not goals in and of themselves and what we can learn from legendary architect Frank Gehry;
· What the Tour de France teaches up about risk;
· What lego has to do with all this;
· Much more!
Show notes:
Robert Caro on LBJ and Robert Moses
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
In this episode, we dive into the world of geopolitical risk analysis – and in so doing, we also look at Russia and its conflict with Ukraine. On top of this, in looking at geopolitical risk, we are also be default considering decision-making under circumstances of extreme uncertainty and ambiguity. So, this is a conversation that offers numerous useful lessons applicable to all types of decisions.
My guest is Dr. Carlo Gallo. Carlo is the founder and director of Enquirisk, a geopolitical risk consultancy that provides analysis on geopolitics using a number of rigorous methods to help clients make better investment decisions. Carlo is an expert on Russia and the former Soviet Union. He has a doctorate in Russian politics from the London School of Economics and applies his expertise in helping clients address political, integrity and security risks.
This is a fabulous conversation that covers both the methodology behind great political risk analysis and how this relates to decision-making as well as the current Russia-Ukraine conflict. Carlo shares insights on Russian society, why the Russian population, for the most part, is supportive of Vladimir Putin, and some considerations for the conflict with Ukraine may end.
Show notes:
Structured Analytic Techniques
Superforecasting by Philip Tetlock
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
Today, I am delighted to bring you my conversation with former Premier League footballer and now performance psychologist Paul McVeigh. Paul played professionally for the likes of Norwich City and Tottenham Hotspur and internationally for Northern Ireland. He competed with some of the sport’s best players and has taken this experience and developed his own methodology to performance psychology which he applies in his work with leaders and teams. He is also an author, having written The Stupid Footballer is Dead which discusses how football at an elite level is played every bit as much with the mind as it is on the pitch.
You certainly don’t need to be interested in football to get a lot out of this episode, but if you are, you will find it even more fascinating. Paul shares more about all this in this episode, including:
- · The day he began his professional career at Tottenham which also happened to coincide with the first day of World Cup-winning colleague Jurgen Klinsmann;
- · How he started to apply psychology as a professional footballer at a time when sports psychology wasn’t something very common;
- · What he learned from being on the same pitch as Cristiano Ronaldo;
- · What former Chelsea great Gianfranco Zola told him about Diego Maradona;
- · The decision to retire as a footballer to do what he does now;
- · The differences and similarities between elite footballers and high-performance leaders
- · Much more
Show notes:
Paul’s book The Stupid Footballer is Dead
Manchester United’s Class of 92
The Thought Cycle and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
This episode is all about misinformation, which seems like it is everywhere – it’s almost like a virus. In fact, as you will hear in this fascinating conversation, that’s exactly how misinformation behaves. My guest is Dr. Sander Van Der Linden who is a Professor of Social Psychology in Society and Director of the Social Decision-Making Lab at the University of Cambridge. He has been described as Cambridge’s professor of ‘defence against the dark arts’.
Sander is the author of the fantastic new book Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity. I don’t think that after you listen to him that you will look at misinformation and social media in the same way again. This conversation is also a great reminder that we are all susceptible to misinformation.
We spend time covering Sander’s background and the origins of the book, why our brains are susceptible to misinformation – which necessarily covers conspiracy theories, how misinformation spreads and the role of social media in that, and finally, how to create a vaccine against it. Sander also shares his experiences working with big tech on this problem.
Show notes:
Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity
David Stillwell on Cambridge Analytica
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
Today, we discuss some risks to ourselves – more specifically, stress and burnout. My guest is Sarah Waylett. Sarah is a self-described recovering perfectionist and over-achiever. She spent many years in the world of high-performance management consulting. This eventually took a toll on her both physically and mentally. Ultimately, she decided to understand her perfectionist tendencies.
This led her to found her own consultancy called Dreamgarten because she saw in others the same tendencies and the same results – overwork and burnout. She developed her own method to deal with burnout using human-centred design thinking, the same techniques she used to facilitate business problem-solving. She found that this approach worked.
We get into that and a lot of other great stuff here that is highly relevant to clear thinking and decision-making. If you lead teams or want to better understand, prevent and/or recover from burnout there is a lot of great stuff in this conversation. Sarah explains her definition of burnout, its impacts on the body and on decision-making, the importance of mindfulness practices, the stress cycle, and ways to prevent and combat burnout.
Show notes:
Burnout – The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
This is Part 2 of 2 of our conversation with Sarah Davis, the first woman to have paddled the Nile from its source in Rwanda to the sea off the coast of Egypt, a 6,500+ km journey that took six months.
If you have not done so, we encourage you to listen to Part 1 first, which you can find here or wherever you get your podcasts.
In Part 2, Sarah covers the second half of her journey which includes traveling through Sudan and Egypt. She also shares a number of wonderful lessons that are applicable to any ambitious endeavour.
Show notes:
Danielle Laporte – what will you do to feel the way you want to feel?
Sir Ranulph Fiennes - Explorer
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
We have a fabulous conversation here in two parts – this is Part One. Our guest is Sarah Davis, the first woman to have paddled the Nile from its source in Rwanda to the sea off the coast of Egypt, a 6,500+ km journey that took six months. During this time, Sarah dealt with angry hippos, the threat of kidnap, white water rapids, and parasites, and she and her team even got arrested at one point.
Who is Sarah? She is a British-born Australian with a love of travel, sport, and adventure. You might think that – in order to pull of this Nile expedition – Sarah started adventuring from a very young age. That isn’t exactly true and this is one of the reasons why this adventure is so interesting. Sarah spent most of her adult life in risk and project management in the banking sector. She decided that she wanted more fulfillment and purpose in her life which is partly how the Nile expedition came about.
In so doing, she shares a number of valuable lessons that you will hear about – from the importance of purpose to planning, crisis management, to decision-making. This is an absolutely wonderful conversation. Part One covers the origins of the expedition, planning and the first half of the journey. Part Two covers the second half and a number of lessons Sarah shares.
Show notes:
Danielle Laporte – what will you do to feel the way you want to feel?
Sir Ranulph Fiennes - Explorer
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
Today’s conversation is with someone you may have come across via a term she coined. That term is ‘gray rhino’ and that person is Michele Wucker. Michele is a strategic advisor and a best-selling author. The term ‘gray rhino’ is one she came up with to take a fresh look at how we respond to the obvious, probable and most impactful risks we face. Her book, THE GRAY RHINO: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore became a bestseller.
Michele has written a sequel entitled YOU ARE WHAT YOU RISK: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World. This is a book whose theme is right at the heart of many of the things we love to talk about on this show. It’s about how we as individuals can better navigate uncertainty by better understanding how our experiences and perceptions shape the way we view it. We get into that in the conversation, including terms such as ‘risk empathy’ and ‘risk fingerprint’, and so much more.
Show notes:
Michele’s company, Gray Rhino and Company
THE GRAY RHINO: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore
YOU ARE WHAT YOU RISK: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World.
Ipos’ Perils of Perception studies
Lloyd’s Register World risk poll
Mark Pollock and Simone George’s TED talk – “A love letter to realism in a time of grief”
Termination Shock by Neil Stephenson
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
This episode is about something with which our society has a very unhealthy relationship: quitting. The advice of the legendarily successful is often boiled down to this: stick to things, don’t quit. But that advice is very wrong. Annie Duke makes her third appearance on the podcast to tell us that quitting is far from a vice. Contrary to popular belief, winners quit a lot. That’s how they win.
If you are unfamiliar with Annie, she is a best-selling author, decision scientist, and a former professional poker champion. Her latest book is called Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away. In it, she draws on a wealth of findings in behavioural science, real-life examples, and thoughtful analysis to make the case for quitting. She joins to talk about that, why quitting is such an important skill, and how to get better at it.
Show notes:
Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away
Ep 157 of All Things Risk with Annie
Ep 90 of All Things Risk with Annie
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
I am delighted to welcome Alison Taylor back to the show. Alison works on challenges at the intersection of corporate integrity, risk, and responsibility. She is the Executive Director at Ethical Systems, a collaboration between leading academics working on behavioural science, organisational psychology, and systems thinking. She is also an adjunct professor at the NYU Stern School of Business. She has advised companies for many years on integrity, anti-corruption, sustainability, and political risk.
On top of that, and for the purposes of this conversation Alison is one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices for 2022. And this is where we get into the topic of focus for this episode. Alison is one of the world’s top voices when discussing the myths and misconceptions of ESG. ESG stands for Environment, Social and Governance. It is ostensibly about how investors reward or punish companies for their performance in these areas (and in so doing help make the world a better place).
However, as you will hear from Alison, it really isn’t that. And, the fact that it really isn’t is a problem for companies, stakeholders, and indeed, the planet. Alison explains what ESG is, better ways to address some of these challenges, transparency and its limits, and much more.
Show notes:
Larry Fink’s 2022 letter to CEOs
Stuart Kirk’s infamous ESG presentation
That Milton Friedman piece on the social responsibility of business
The Balkanisation of the internet
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
Today’s conversation is all about things going badly wrong. We cover this by talking about situations that feature in the plots of action movies. My guest is Mark Harris. Mark is a crisis management and crisis communications expert with decades of experience working at the forefront of these areas. Mark has worked on over 150 incidents of kidnapping, extortion, and hostage-taking around the world. He has also dealt with 19 cases of vessel hijacking, the majority of which were undertaken by Somali pirates. Prior to that, mark served for 14 years in the British Army. And as you will hear, saw service in Germany at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, in Cyprus as part of the UN Peacekeeping contingent, and as a Military Observer in Cambodia when he and his team were taken hostage by the Khmer Rouge.
Mark knows of what he speaks and his experience helping organisations and individuals deal with these types of acute crises offers a number of lessons that are applicable to a range of contexts. We talk about all of that including the dynamics of kidnapping, crisis preparedness, management and communication, and much more.
Show notes:
Mark’s blog post “Agile Leadership in a VUCA World”
The Weaponisation of Everything by Mark Galeotti
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
This episode is all about our ‘built environment’. In other words, infrastructure – our roads, bridges, water system, and digital infrastructure. After listening to this one, it’s more than likely that you will never think about this topic in the same way again.
Think about when our roads and bridges were built. Who was in the room (often decades ago) making the decisions? What did they know? How do these decisions impact us today? What does that mean for current infrastructure decisions? A lot. Infrastructure can be viewed as 'institutional relics".
Meet today’s guest, Daniel Armanios. Daniel is the BT Professor of Major Programme Management at the University of Oxford’s Säid Business School. His research and teaching integrates civil engineering with organisational sociology to better understand how organisations can coordinate to build, manage, and maintain infrastructure systems. Daniel is a super interesting guy – a Rhodes Scholar with a Ph.D. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, he is an interdisciplinary expert yet a practical thinker. He has amazing insights and this leads to a fascinating conversation.
We cover things like:
- How infrastructure decisions that are ‘rational’ can sometimes create unequal outcomes;
- Why it’s important for those designing and building infrastructure to think about who they might be excluded – and how to do that;
- Infrastructure as an 'institutional relic';
- Political turmoil;
- Risk and uncertainty in infrastructure;
- Risk-taking as an academic
Show notes:
Daniel’s inaugural lecture at the University of Oxford
Daniel’s research on bridges
Flint Michigan water crisis
Jackson Mississippi water crisis
Pittsburgh Fern Hollow Bridge and its collapse
Kathleen Eisenhardt on simple rules
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Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
Nathan and Susannah Furr are the co-authors of a phenomenal book that is firmly in the wheelhouse of our show. It’s called The Upside of Uncertainty – A Guide to Finding Possibility in the Unknown. It’s been described as a “science-backed guide for navigating and thriving through uncertainty,” and it’s a book that is well overdue given the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
I am reminded of that lovely Voltaire quote – “Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position but certainty is an absurd one.” And it’s appropriate to quote a French philosopher as Nathan and Susannah are Americans based in France. Nathan is an associate professor of strategy at the world-renowned INSEAD in Paris. He teaches innovation and tech strategy and is a recognised expert in these fields having written several books on these topics. Susannah is a designer, art historian with a focus on the Dutch baroque period, and entrepreneur. She founded her own clothing line which was inspired by the intricate embroidery of Dutch women in the baroque.
This conversation is fabulous.
We not only get into the beauty of uncertainty, but Nathan and Susannah share a number of tools and techniques from their uncertainty ‘first aid cross’ that you will hear about. This is all about how to prime, do, reframe and sustain in the midst of uncertainty. These are all essential skills very few of us are formally taught.
Show notes:
The Upside of Uncertainty – A Guide to Finding Possibility in the Unknown
“The Peace of Wild Things” – poem by Wendell Berry
The ‘uncertainty first aid cross’
Raymond Poulidor vs Jacques Anquetil on the Puy de Dôme
James Carse – Finite and Infinite Games
Carol Dweck and a growth mindset
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Like what you heard?
Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK
Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast
Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7z8jmcbiemLawrHmay65kH
Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings
Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
I am delighted to share today’s conversation with you because not only is it fascinating, but it also deals with one of our favourite topics – decision-making. My guest is Cheryl Einhorn, founder of Decisive, a decision sciences company that trains people and teams in complex problem-solving and decision-making skills using a method that she created. The method, called AREA, is something Cheryl developed during her two decades as an investigative journalist for the likes of the New York Times, Barron’s, and Foreign Policy. If you think about how demanding that job is, it becomes clear that having a way of testing and reinforcing your conclusions is incredibly valuable.
We get into that, as well as Cheryl’s background, problem-solving and decision-making as skills, the difference between ambiguity and uncertainty, something Cheryl developed called a ‘Problem Solver Profile,’ regret, the importance of slowing down, and much more.
Show notes:
Cheryl’s article on Problem Solver Profiles
Find your Problem Solver Profile
Cheryl’s Harvard Business Review articles
Investing in Financial Research
Problem Solver – Maximising Your Strengths to Make Better Decisions – Cheryl’s forthcoming book
Analysis of Competing Hypotheses
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Like what you heard?
Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK
Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast
Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7z8jmcbiemLawrHmay65kH
Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings
Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
Today’s conversation is another look at inclusion – and more specifically, the gap between what is being said and what is being done. If we think about the amount of time we are hearing about diversity and the proliferation of programmes in this space, we might thing that there is a lot of progress being made. The reality however, is very different – on the whole, diversity efforts are moving at a glacial pace. That is not only a problem, it also presents plenty of risk. Homophobia, racism, transphobia and misogyny are very prevalent.
I want you to meet our guest, Suzy Levy. Suzy is the founder and Managing Director of The Red Plate, a non-executive board member of the Department of Education, a Trustee of the Women’s Sport Trust, a member of the Advisory Board at Foundervine, and a member of the Strategic Race Board at the Home Office. Suzy’s book Mind the Inclusion Gap draws on her extensive experience designing and implementing some of the most progressive and recognised diversity and inclusion programmes in the UK.
In this episode, Suzy shares a number of great insights, including:
- Why being kind and having a moral compass isn’t enough;
- What many organisations get wrong in this space;
- Why we shouldn’t fear causing offence;
- How to address some of the failings
Show notes:
Suzy on socials:
Suzy’s consultancy Red Plate
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Like what you heard?
Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK
Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast
Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7z8jmcbiemLawrHmay65kH
Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings
Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
One of the things we love on this show (and as human beings for that matter – I think), is adventure. I think that’s because adventures are one of the best ways we have to embrace uncertainty. They involve not being quite sure of the outcomes of something we may be trying to do, or what we will encounter along the way. Adventure also necessarily involves risk – and that is a good thing. And of course, a good adventure, in whatever form it takes, is fun.
So, it’s a pleasure to welcome back Oscar Scafidi to the show. Oscar is currently based in Tunisia. He is a travel writer, educator, and an Africa political risk consultant. Oscar’s first appearance on All Things Risk involved his expedition kayaking the Kwanza river in Angola. In this episode, Oscar share his most recent adventure in which he and his friend Ben Stephen attempted to kayak the Mangoky River in Madagascar from the source to the sea – a total of about 500 kilometres. In the process, they attempted to set a Guinness World Record and raise money for two charities – The World Food Programme and Our Kids, Our Future Madagascar.
Like any good adventure, Oscar and Ben’s draws you in. We get into the detail of the adventure and at a certain point, you almost feel like you’re there, experiencing it with Oscar and Ben. However, we also take a step back and talk about purpose, resilience, mental strength, planning, and loads more.
Show notes:
The World Food Programme Madagascar
Our Kids, Our Future Madagascar
Oscar’s first appearance on All Things Risk – Kayaking the Kwanza
Security issues in Madagascar’s Dahalo region
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Like what you heard?
Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK
Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast
Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo
Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings
Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
Today, we talk about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. I welcome to the show Cynthia Owyoung. Cynthia is the vice president of inclusion, equity and belonging at Robinhood. She is also the founder of Breaking Glass Forums where she develops strategies to accelerate an increase in more diverse and inclusive organisations. She has worked on these types of initiatives for over twenty years.
She has also recently authored All Are Welcome – How to Build a Real Workplace Culture of Inclusion That Delivers Results. From the perspective of risk, organisations that have a high degree of diversity should make better decisions under uncertainty because they ostensibly have more experiences and perspectives on which to draw. But, as Cynthia points out, diversity isn’t enough. People need to be included and have a sense of belonging in their organisations.
We get into that in this episode. Cynthia shares her background, she discusses a number of the myths and challenges associated with diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, how to overcome these, and the benefits of doing so – and more.
Show notes:
All Are Welcome – How to Build a Real Workplace Culture of Inclusion That Delivers Results
Marcus Buckingham’s Nine Lies About Work
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Like what you heard?
Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK
Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast
Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo
Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings
Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
www.allthingsrisk.co.uk
Today’s episode has a bit of everything. My guest is Benj Gallander. Benj is one of Canada’s most successful contrarian investors. Benj started investing in the 1970s and in 1995 with his friend Ben Stadelmann, he co-founded Contra The Herd, an investment newsletter that has achieved an astonishing annualised return of 19.6%. Benj is the author of three best-selling books, including The Contrarian Investors’ 13 and The Uncommon Investor III – How to Earn Superior Returns in the Stock Market. He writes a column in the Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper, is a regular speaker in the investment media, and is on the board of two companies.
Now, I thought this was going to be a conversation about contrarian investing but it turned out to be so much more. Benj has a wide array of interests and experiences and the conversation reflects that. I think it also reflects the big lesson of this episode – curiosity and diversity of interests and thoughts are fundamental to enduring, sustainable success – and I think they most certainly have played a big role in Benj’s success.
This also comes through throughout the episode – from when Benj describes his investment philosophy, co-founding Contra the Herd, discussing learning from mistakes, the importance of reading and learning, cryptocurrencies, Benj’s take on fear, doing uncomfortable things, and so much more.
Show notes:
The Uncommon Investor III – How to Earn Superior Returns in the Stock Market
Ron Meisels on technical analysis
Books and authors mentioned:
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
My Stockbroker is a Bum: Or, Where are all the Customers’ Yachts by Charles D’Ambrosio
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
How to Decide by Annie Duke
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Like what you heard?
Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK
Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast
Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo
Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings
Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com
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Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence