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you were saying...
John Kay in discussion with the Jolly Swagman
My career has consciously and otherwise found me engaging with uncertainty. Over the last decade I've started many discussions with a definition of risk that I find particularly helpful: "risk is the effect of uncertainty on objectives". John Kay reminds us that there is "resolveable uncertainty" (which reminds me of the simple and complicated contexts in the Cynefin framework) and then there is radical uncertainty.
The A.N.Smith Memorial Lecture by Mark Scott
In 2006, Mark Scott, then the Managing Director of the ABC, gave the A.N.Smith Memorial Lecture on the turbulent changes occurring in the media industry as the ABC navigated the early years of the digital age. The story is interesting in itself, but in his closing remarks Scott calls out five suggestions for those facing into change. Scott’s suggestions reinforced my view that the risks we face are so often opportunities lurking behind uncertainty. Here's what Scott's suggestions prompted for me about the practice of risk...
Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac
A Sand County Almanac is one of those books that has been on my mind to read for decades. It is quoted by countless authors and stands as a timeless call for a deeper understanding and wiser interaction with the natural world. Reading Leopold's observations in 2021, almost 80 years after its first publication, these beautful reflections call for us to recognise our dependence on the land and all that lives upon it.
Poetry by Vincent Toro
I've always enjoyed poetry, but of late it's come to feature more and more in what I read and what stays with me. The way in which poets express ideas with such precision and beauty is a joy. This poem is not only awe-inspiring as it recounts Maritza Soto's 'discoveries' but also a reminder of the prejudices that remain entrenched in our societies and personal assumptions.
Wicked problems
I'd heard the phrase 'wicked problems' for years, but it wasn't until I was responding to the complexity and challenge of post-bushfire infrastructure design and delivery after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires that I began to properly comprehend Rittel and Webber's concept. While it can appear dispiriting, the description they put so plainly in their paper helped me to realise that our response shouldn't be about singular 'solutions' but about understanding the systems and actors that define our context. The ten properties of wicked problems become the starting point for a better appreciation of the problems we face.
Death sentence
by Don Watson
As a consultant for a decade these words ring in my ears constantly. I don't always succeed.
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