Bryan Whitefield Consultant

Bryan’s Blog: Want a great strategy?

It’s funny how everyone wants a great strategy but not everybody wants to deal with the risk of achieving the strategy. I think it is because the following statement is true: “Risk management is good management.” Hence most of us will think and sometimes say, “Doing my job is managing risk”. And most of us…

Bryan’s Blog: There is a new elephant in the room

Here is the essence of a conversation I had with a senior leader in a large publicly listed company:- Me: How’s business? Senior Leader(SL): Great! Me: That’s good! All your major projects are going well? SL: Yes, all good! Me: How’s your risk function going? SL: Not great. People just treat it as a tick-the-box…

Bryan’s Blog: Your Mum and Dad were right

You know that old saying,“If something’s worth doing it’s worth doing well”? Why don’t we apply the same sage advice in business? While being world’s best would be fantastic, I am not talking about that. Just doing stuff well is all I am asking. My Blog last week gave you the stat that 74% of respondents…

Bryan’s Blog: Resilience Smilience – It is just a platform

I have frequently talked about resilience as being one of the benefits of a great strategy and sound risk management. For example, here is a paper I wrote about selling resilience. When I mention resilience to a large organisation I start with this question: “What makes a small business resilient?” And the answer is “its…

Bryan’s Blog: Essence of Decision and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Recently I read Essence of Decision – Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis by Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow. I won’t tell a fib and say it is an easy read. Bits of it are. The sections recalling the historical facts and some of the conjecture about the decisions being made by the historical figures were…