Like some of you, I am finding more time on my hands these days. Many companies are focused on internal initiatives to respond and restore operations during these uncertain times. Several ERM projects have been put on pause as they don’t fall within the scope of essential projects. Rather than spending my days binge-streaming the latest shows on TV, I have turned my efforts towards activities that I believe will help enhance my thinking in some way. At the moment, I have settled on four tasks I thought I would share.
- Read—I am currently reading a book on strategy. It’s interesting to read such a book and bring an ERM lens to the topic. The particular book I am reading presents some interesting views on why strategies fail. While it never brings up the idea of risk and strategy, it is evident in the text. It is reinforcing for me the importance of bringing a risk lens, but also reinforcing my view that that I need to change the language in these conversations as those with that strategy lens don’t inherently connect with the notion of risk.
- Join Webinars that You Might Otherwise Pass on—I’m joining more webinars these days, in part as I’d like to get my annual continuing education completed while I have some time. Each one I have joined has offered me some tidbit that I am parking away for future use. Its allows me to connect-the-dots between topics that I might not otherwise appreciate.
- Prepare for What Might Come Next—The question on what ERM practitioners have learned over this period will undoubtedly come up at some point. I’m spending a lot of time thinking of what changes may lie ahead. One of the topics I’m pondering is the view of risk as a distribution. Often, ERM functions will assess risk as a single point of a numeric scale. We are learning in these times that risk shouldn’t always be viewed that way. Some risks will fit nicely into that scheme but many will not. Moving away from such a model could be a big change to some ERM functions but we may need to shift our thinking to better understand the next event.
- Contribute to Your ERM Community—I am a big believer is finding a new perspective on an issue and writing something about it. Whether it’s a LinkedIn post, a thought paper, professional journal article, or some other channel, write something new and put it out there. I am currently working on a thought paper on risk appetite which I hope to publish soon.
The one item that I am unable to do at this time is still meet people for coffee to bounce around ideas. Somehow video chats don’t seem to have the same feel. That said, physical distancing doesn’t mean we have to be totally isolated. If you are interested in chatting about ERM, please reach me at frank@pacificriskservices.com