Today, I’m going to explain how to look for hidden opportunities and risks in your organization using a weighted SWOT analysis. This strategic management tool allows you to calculate your options, which leads to decisions that are risk intelligent.
Continue reading “How Do I Make a Weighted SWOT Diagram? [Video]”
It’s that time of year… to review whether you have reached your goals!
As a business owner, you may feel ready to leave last year behind and move forward—especially if you’ve experienced failure: Disappointing sales, high staff turnover, unpaid invoices, frustrating delays, or negative outcomes.
But we shouldn’t avoid talking about failure. It may be easier to talk about happy things, but there are just as many (if not more) reasons to review the unpleasant ones.
In this post, I’ll explain the benefits of using a Year In Review, and how to start.
This is the final in a 3-part series about Pain and Decision-Making.
In previous posts, I described ways to see pain objectively, and how to identify pain points, and ways to fix them. In this article, we’ll be examining some difficult topics that most leaders tend to avoid.
This is the second in a 3-part series about Pain and Decision-Making.
Although pain is usually viewed as harmful (“bad pain”), it can also help us (“good pain”). Let’s examine the useful kind.
Continue reading “How to Use Good and Bad Pain in Decision-Making”
Pain isn’t something most of us want to experience. We are hard-wired to avoid unpleasant conversations, experiences, and memories. And most of the time, this instinct serves us well.
But when it comes to recognizing risks — vulnerabilities and threats that could cause harm — avoiding pain is dangerous.
This is the first in a 3-part series about Pain and Decision-Making.
In this post, I will review the basics of pain, our unique thresholds, corresponding fears, and how to evaluate and properly both pain and managing risk. Continue reading “What Happens When We Avoid Pain in Decision-Making?”
When you hear the word “risk,” you probably think of either something dangerous (“don’t do that, you could get hurt!”), or an action that is likely to fail (“if this works out, we’ll be rich; if not, we could lose everything”). But risks are actually neutral; they’re neither good nor bad, but simply describe a degree of uncertainty.
We tend to say that risks are either “positive” or “negative.” But what we’re actually describing is the outcome. If a risk brings a positive outcome, we might enjoy new opportunities and pleasant surprises. If a risk brings a negative outcome, we could experience damage, injury, liability, or loss.
The factors that contribute to outcomes are called threats. Although most threats can’t be eliminated (such as consumer purchase habits, economic instability, and increasing reliance on technology), we can definitely reduce the chance that we will suffer from a negative outcome.
I’m passionate about helping leaders to recognize vulnerabilities in their organization: areas where an attack or loss is likely to occur. In this article, I explain the importance of developing your awareness of risks in a strategic context, the “perfect blend” of strategy and risk, and suggestions for managing them.
Continue reading “What is Strategic Risk, and Why Does It Matter?”
