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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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:
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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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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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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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:
Show notes:
Suzy on socials:
Suzy’s consultancy Red Plate
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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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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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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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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 look at how and why some ideas take off and others don’t – in other words, how and why things scale. I am delighted to bring to you my conversation with John List. John has been described as a ‘master economist’ and a ‘revolutionary experimenter’. He is certainly a pioneer in combining economic theory with field experiments. John is currently the Chief Economist at Walmart and has held the same role at Lyft and Uber. He is also the Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago’s Department of Economics and has been an economic advisor to the Bush White House.
For the purposes of this episode, John discusses his latest and fabulous book The Voltage Effect – How to Make Good Ideas Great and Great Ideas Scale. In it, John argues that scalability is critical to just about everything from medical breakthroughs to social movements. John shares a number of insights from the book, including the conditions necessary for something to scale and the secrets to high voltage scaling.
We also spend some time on a topic I consider fascinating – when and how to quit something that is not serving us. This is one of the secrets to high voltage scaling. It’s a fascinating conversation!
Show notes:
John’s University of Chicago page
John’s piece in the Wall Street Journal on quitting
The quitting ‘coin flip’ experiment
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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’ve been wanting to have an episode in which we take a ‘big picture’ look at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, there is so much analysis out there about the conflict that I wasn’t sure if I could bring on the right guest who could be highly credible and offer a unique perspective, preferably steeped in a wider historical context. This is why I am so delighted to bring to you my conversation with Susan Eisenhower.
Susan is the granddaughter of General and President Dwight Eisenhower. She wrote a critically-acclaimed book about her grandfather’s leadership principles entitled How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions. She is also an expert on Russia-US relations, international security, energy, and space policy. She has served on numerous government task forces, is the Chair of Public Policy Programs at the Eisenhower Institute, and the founder of the Eisenhower Group, a consulting firm. So, she knows of what she speaks.
This episode proceeds in two parts. In the first half, Susan covers General President Dwight Eisenhower’s leadership principles, particularly how he made decisions. We focus on D-Day and when, as President, Ike looked at options to contain Soviet expansionism. These leadership and decision-making principles are not only fascinating, but they are also highly transferable.
In the second half, we fast forward to the present and discuss Russia’s war with Ukraine. Susan shares how we got here, a number of concerns she has, as well as the longer-term implications of the conflict. She also discusses decision-making in the context of nuclear war more broadly.
Show notes:
How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions
The Great Man Theory of leadership
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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
What happens when your ability to make decisions gets clouded – and driven – by addiction? Why does ‘letting go’ make sense in these circumstances? What does it feel like when doing the right thing for your health seems somehow risky and frightening? And what in the world does running have to do with all of this?
Making his second appearance on the podcast is my good friend Robert Earl Stewart. Based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Robert (or Bob as I’ve always known him) is a writer, poet, and former journalist and bookseller. He is also a recovering alcoholic and has struggled with food addiction. At one point in his life, he weighed nearly 400 pounds and struggled to breathe while talking.
As you will hear, he took up running in an effort to save his life and ended up writing a fabulous book about his journey. The book is called The Running-Shaped Hole. It’s funny, moving, and inspirational as it chronicles how Robert lost 140 pounds, ran the Detroit Free Press half marathon, ended up in jail at one point, and tons in between. He shares his thoughts on all of those things in this episode and more, including what addiction feels like, family, the importance of surrender, and how authorities suspected he may have been at the head of an international organsised crime syndicate that provokes monied interests at picnics (you will have to listen to learn more about that last one). Like his book, this is an entertaining, funny, and thought-provoking conversation.
Show notes:
Robert’s first appearance on All Things Risk
Blaise Pascal’s God-shaped hole
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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
Recent events – at the time of writing, Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine – reinforce that uncertainty is an inherent human condition. Our guest on this episode offers an approach to this reality that is useful. Paula Reid is an adventurer, and more precisely, an adventure psychologist. She has completed a number of epic things like skiing to the South Pole, sailing around the world, and paddling the Mekong river.
While we have had many adventurers on the show, I invited Paula to appear because she is a trailblazer in the field of adventure psychology – which is all about using applied psychology and experience to facilitate enduring performance and well-being. She helps individuals and organisations survive, cope and thrive during change. Given the state of the world, that is something all of us can use.
Show notes:
The Brave Athlete by Simon Marshall and Lesley Paterson
Safety and wingsuit BASE jumping
Alistair Humphreys on All Things Risk (including references to the ‘doorstep mile’)
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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 look at organisations and the people within them. I want you to meet our guest, Minal Bopaiah. Minal is the founder of Brevity and Wit, a strategy and design firm dedicated to designing a more equitable world. She is also the author of a great book Equity – How to Design Organisations Where Everyone Can Thrive. Minal is based in the USA but her expertise and experience in combining human-centred design, behaviour change science, and the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity and accountability is relevant to people everywhere.
From the perspective of risk, uncertainty and decision-making, the concept of equity – the way Minal addresses it – leads to better outcomes. I think that’s because it creates more robust and higher-quality decisions. Minal also makes the distinctions between diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility very clear. Her approach is down-to-earth and pragmatic – and very engaging.
Show notes:
Equity – How to Design Organisations Where Everyone Can Thrive
Article – “How Putting Yourself in Someone Else’s Shoes May Backfire”
The BJP political party in India
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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
Today, we talk about the science of fear. Fear is a theme that unsurprisingly comes up a lot on this podcast, as it is so closely associated with risk and uncertainty. We get to discuss fear in a great way with our guest Eva Holland, author of the book Nerve – A Personal Journey Through the Science of Fear. Eva is a freelance writer based in Whitehorse in the Yukon territory of Northern Canada. She is a correspondent for Outside magazine and has had her work published in the likes of Wired, Bloomberg and National Geographic News.
In 2015, Eva was forced to face her greatest fear when her mother sadly passed away suddenly from a stroke. After her grief subsided, Eva began to explore how her fears may have limited her, and whether or not it was possible to move past them. This led to a deep dive into the science of fear, including where phobias come from, how they differ from trauma or anxiety, and whether we can find better ways to feel afraid.
We get into all of that in this episode. We discuss the different types of fear, what Eva learned, some insights into what happens to people who have a rare disease that prevents them from feeling fear, how people like rock climber Alex Honnold process fear, and much more.
Show notes:
Nerve: A Personal Journey Through the Science of Fear (in N America “Adventures in the Science of Fear”)
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan
The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund Bourne
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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 ways in which to manage uncertainty is by creating routines and rituals that drive a degree of certainty in our lives. In previous episodes, we’ve talked about decision-making and decision quality – that we cannot control outcomes but we can control the quality of our decisions. That requires focus. And focus isn’t easy in this day and age of seemingly infinite distraction.
With that, I want you to meet our guest, Thatcher Wine. Thatcher is the CEO of Juniper Books. You may have come across them for their beautiful, hand-crafted book sets. The reason I invited Thatcher on the show however is because he recently wrote his own fabulous book – The Twelve Monotasks: Do One Thing at a Time to Do Everything Better.
I think that we believe – even subliminally – that we need to multi-task to be successful. Thatcher’s book tackles that myth and introduces the concept of “monotasking muscles”. He believes we can use monotasking as the foundation for everything in our lives. The book presents twelve monotasks – from reading, listening, playing, creating, sleeping, and more. It is based on research in neuroscience, productivity, and the attention economy which all demonstrate monotasking’s benefits.
In the episode, we cover Thatcher’s background, the origins of the book, what monotasking is, we dive into some of the monotasks most related to the themes of this show, and Thatcher shares some tips on how we can strengthen our monotasking muscles.
Show notes:
The Twelve Monotasks: Do One Thing at a Time to Do Everything Better
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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 our annual “best of” episode, featuring some memorable clips from our 2021 podcasts. I use the term “best of” loosely because I recognise that all listeners get something a bit different out of each guest and episode. We feature clips from the following (in the order they appear in the “Best of” 2021):
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Like what you heard?
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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
This episode is all about how to take something that is important but frankly, considered to be less-than-exciting, and making that thing interesting and relevant. Anything that involves following rules is often like this – and if you do compliance or legal work, you will have come across this. And even if you don’t, chances are that you have faced this dilemma at some point.
When faced with this challenge, it’s crucial to get creative – or risk the consequences. Meet Stan Lui, our guest in this episode. In his day job, Stan is the Legal Director of a Hong Kong-based automotive firm. That means that he works with colleagues on legal topics that are considered ‘boring’ but are very important – consider the risks of fraud or corruption for instance.
So, Stan reached into his many creative talents – like street theatre – and founded something called the White Hat Guys. The White Hat Guys aims to create and innovative and engaging compliance narrative. This includes videos, interesting training and lots of cool techniques for what Stan calls “maximum message stickiness.”
We get into all of that, how and why Stan set up White Hat Guys, cultural differences on these and related topics, and a range of things in between.
Show notes:
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Like what you heard?
Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK
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Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com
This is the second of our two consecutive episodes about cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and digital finance. You don’t need to have listened to the first of these with Ethan Lou in order to get out a lot of this one – at the same time, we do recommend you listen to it. In it, we covered the ‘wild west' of the cryptocurrency world.
Today, we continue to talk about the risks and opportunities in this space, but our focus turns to the present and future of these technologies – including other uses of blockchain, stablecoins, and even a prediction or two.
I am delighted to bring to you my conversation with Dante Disparte. Dante is a global leader in harnessing risk and emerging technologies to improve economic competitiveness and resilience. He is currently the Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy at Circle. Circle is a digital financial services firm, which among other things, has built the US dollar coin (USDC). Prior to this, Dante was a founding executive at the Diem Association. Diem (previously known as Libra) is the blockchain payment system of Meta (formerly known as Facebook of course). Dante was also a member of the USA’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). You may also be familiar with his name as he co-authored Global Risk Agility with Daniel Wagner, a frequent guest on All Things Risk.
We get into a fair bit in this conversation, including:
Show notes:
Nassim Taleb’s take on Bitcoin
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and fraud
Our conversation with Oliver Bullough on “Moneyland”
“How Robert Mueller Used Bitcoin to Catch Russia”
The potential use of blockchain to speed up insurance payments following disasters
“Is America Losing the Digital Currency Race” – Dante’s piece in Project Syndicate
Our episode on Global Risk Agility with Daniel Wagner
Our episode with Ethan Lou, author of “Once a Bitcoin Miner”
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Like what you heard?
Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK
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Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com
The next two episodes will be focused on cryptocurrencies and we will be giving this the full “All Things Risk” treatment. If you look at many of the resources available to try and understand this stuff, you will inevitably be driven to the areas of computer science, finance, economics and in some cases, philosophy. Bitcoin has even been described as a libertarian nirvana and many cryptocurrencies have an almost cult-like status amongst some of their proponents. On top of this, there is plenty of mis-information based on a lack of transparency – which of course can lead to fraud as much as (if not more than) riches.
What I have long thought is that there was a lack of explanation for the cryptocurrency phenomenon based on the human condition. That is, until now. Meet Ethan Lou. Ethan is a journalist at Canada’s Financial Post, an early crypto investor, and the author of a fabulous new book called Once a Bitcoin Miner – Scandal and Turmoil in the Cryptocurrency Wild West.
I came across Ethan upon reading his opinion piece in Canada’s Globe and Mail in which he equates the world of crypto to the “frontier myth” in which participants are motivated not just by greed and speculation but also by a sense of adventure and even fantasy. That entails good and bad things, particularly when that fantasy comes up against reality. Ethan has met a range of colourful and sometimes dodgy characters during his crypto journey and he shares of some of that in this episode. This path even took him to North Korea, and we discuss that too. He also discusses whether or not these assets are in a bubble and shares advice for the crypto-curious.
Regardless of your views of and experiences in cryptocurrency and blockchain, I don’t think you can fully understand these things without understanding the perspective that Ethan shares. His insights are colourful, based on first-hand experience, and very revealing.
Show notes:
Ethan’s Financial Post column;
Ethan’s Globe and Mail article;
Ronny Chieng video in the Daily Show;
Gerald (Jerry) Cotton and the Quadriga insolvency;
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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
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Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com
What can we learn about living from the prospect (indeed the certainty) of dying? Meet David Richman. David is an author, speaker, trainer, and endurance athlete. For the purposes of this conversation, he is the author of Cycle of Lives, a book that tells 15 different people’s stories around the emotional chaos of cancer. David lost his own sister to cancer, which, as will hear, led to his ventures in endurance sport. That is relevant because not only did David write 15 very compelling stories, but he also rode a bike across the United States to meet with those subjects in person, covering a distance of over 5,000 miles (approximately 8,000 kilometers).
We talk about all of that and more, including:
Show notes:
David on:
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Like what you heard?
Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK
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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 take a dive into some lessons from the political and security risk business. My guest is Richard Fenning. Now and executive coach, Richard was the CEO of Control Risks for 14 years, one of the world’s foremost consulting firms in this space. As you might imagine, being the CEO for a firm like this is incredibly interesting. After all, Control Risks helps clients deal with things like kidnappings, terrorist incidents, coups, fraud, corruption, and just about everything in between.
Richard has written a fabulous book about the experience. It’s called What on Earth Can Go Wrong? Tales From the Risk Business. It’s part memoir, part travel book, part business book and contains first-hand, insightful (and sometimes funny) accounts of Richard’s experiences in places like Kenya, Iraq, Colombia, Russia, the USA amongst others. It also contains interesting reflections about decision-making in such places.
We get into that and more in this episode, including:
Show notes:
What on Earth Can Go Wrong? Tales from the Risk Business
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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 the work in a post-pandemic world. I welcome back to the show Dr. Gleb Tsipursky. Gleb is a best-selling author, the CEO and founder of Disaster Avoidance Experts and an expert on cognitive biases and decision-making. He joins the podcast to discuss his latest book Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams.
We discuss the mistakes that the likes of Facebook, Amazon, and others have made when returning to physical offices, how organizations can avoid these, why hybrid working is here to stay, cognitive biases and the new era of work, and much more.
Show notes:
Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams
Episodes 45 76 and 126 of All Things Risk with Gleb Tsipurksy
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Like what you heard?
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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
To tee up this conversation, I want you to think about fear, or more specifically “fearlessness”. I’m going to posit that this is a concept that makes little to no sense, at least when presented as a positive trait. It isn’t wise to be around anyone who purports to be “fearless”. Fear is a natural human emotion. Courage and bravery are impossible without it, and great risk management needs to acknowledge and understand it.
With that, meet Coach Tony Blauer, this episode’s guest. Coach Blauer has been in the martial arts, self-defence, defence tactics industry for over four decades. He trains people in self-defence, working with both individuals and governments. His research into physiology and mindset as it relates to violence and confrontation management has influenced over three decades of reality-based martial arts.
However, I didn’t bring Coach Blauer on to discuss combat tactics. I brought him on the show because in creating and refining his self-defense system, he developed a deep understanding of fear based on psychology, physiology, and neuroscience.
We talk about that because there is a huge cross-over with just about everything else when it comes to fear. From a risk and uncertainty perspective, we can learn a lot from Coach Blauer. So today, it’s about “know fear”, not “no fear’.
Show notes:
Coach Blauer’s Know Fear Now website
Coach Blauer on:
Coach Blauer’s free ebook “Making Friends With Fear” is available here
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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