Attention busy executives

Revealed on this page . . .

• The three biggest reasons that cause businesses to decline in value.
• The solution for taking control of uncertainty in your business.
• The simple system for anticipating threats to achieving your objectives while identifying opportunities to exploit for a competitive advantage.

Business Realities

Rapid changes in the political, economic, social, and technological environment are putting more pressure than ever on executives to fulfill their organization’s mission.  Added to this is the dynamic competitive landscape, with both direct competitors and indirect competitors who offer products or services that can be substituted for one another.

With these distractions, most executives give neither sufficient time  nor thought to the future, and when they do many of the techniques used are dated, lack sophistication, and are no longer effective in creating and maintaining an organization’s competitive advantage.

While these are the symptoms, the real problem is the lack of information and a system to not only anticipate threats to the achievement of the organization’s objectives, but to also identify opportunities to exploit for a competitive advantage.

As management guru Peter Drucker says, “Results are obtained by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems.  All one can hope to get by solving a problem is to restore normality.  All one can hope, at best, is to eliminate a restriction on the compacity of the business to obtain results.  The results themselves must come from the exploitation of opportunities.”

You’re Not Alone

Maybe you’ve been there too.  I know I have in the past.

Most executives will admit to spending too much time working in the business, but not enough working on the business, and when planning does take place quite often the techniques used are outdated and no longer effective in maintaining a competitive advantage.

When decisions are made, there is always that nagging feeling about whether they were based on information that was perhaps out of date, incomplete, or worse yet, inaccurate.  This leads to a feeling of uncertainty, and the effect this uncertainty has on an organization’s objective is “risk.”

You can be blindsided by unanticipated threats.  Every time customer priorities shift, your business design is at risk, your value proposition gets a little fuzzier, a little out of focus.

Opportunities to exploit for a competitive advantage go undetected.  Technology shifts or unique competitors leave you looking in the rear-view mirror, wondering what happened.

Misunderstood priorities result in eroding operational effectiveness and efficiency, with a negative impact on productivity and stakeholders’ confidence and trust.

Yet all these risks can be understood, identified, anticipated, mitigated, or reversed, thereby averting unnecessary waste.

You Can’t Eliminate Uncertainty, But You Can Take Control

As Ben Franklin said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”  The world of certainty is very small indeed – especially when compared to the world of risk and uncertainty.

Fundamentally, every organization is a system; a collection of processes that, together, reliably produces an intended result.  Systems allow you to spend time focusing on actions that will ensure you can fulfill all the tasks required to achieve the organization’s objectives.  Those objectives may be a mix covering many aspects of the organization’s operations.  Control will only occur after a mind shift to adopt those systems.

Finding a Better Way

While systems allow us time to think ahead, they do not provide the solution in themselves.  A truly forward-thinking system must include a logical series of processes that lead to a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by the organization.

To move from a defensive to offensive position, the solution must:

• Help clarify our objectives;
• Paint a clear picture of the environment in which we operate;
• Identify threats and opportunities;
• Prioritize actions; and
• Implement the best action plans.
   

My Journey

Over the course of 47 years as a commercial insurance broker and risk management consultant, I have been fortunate to work with hundreds of organizations in a variety of industries.   This experience provided me the opportunity to observe how management teams make decisions, particularly in response to risk. 

Early in my career I thought that insurance was the answer to managing risk.  Traditionally, organizations operated in a defensive mode, relying on the purchase of insurance when possible.  The perspective of risk was that of hazards, and was oriented around cause of loss.  Risk treatment operated in silos within departments, and was consequently a “bottom-up” process.

The World Changed

As the world changed, I realized these traditional methods were no longer effective in managing the challenges my clients were faced with.  I needed to do something different, and that was when I began my quest to learn more about risk management.

I learned that Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) looked at the upside of risk and the many opportunities it can present.  It is tied to strategic objectives and is a coordinated approach that looks at all risk departments.  Subject matter experts and risk committees are used to identify risk, and it is a “top-down” process (offensive position).

While ERM provided a solution, it also presented a challenge.  It was created by risk management professionals for risk managers in large organizations, not for the busy executive who is faced with many other tasks daily.  I realized what was needed was a practical solution, not an academic one.

The results will transform you and your team. 

• You and your team will have a clear understanding of the organization’s objectives and how they will be measured.  By harnessing their collective wisdom, there will be a sense of teamwork and ownership. 
• Everyone will have a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities that face the organization.  Making better informed decisions will facilitate establishing priorities and improving productivity, thereby assuring that the time is well spent.
• From the board to the staff, you will demonstrate proactive management, thereby improving stakeholder confidence and trust.

The Managing Uncertainty System Online  Course

Now you can gain the benefits of my knowledge without leaving your office.  The video course is designed to give you everything you need, all you add is leadership.  Here is an overview of the lessons that are included in your training.

Introduction - In this lesson you will learn about the difference between RISK and UNCERTAINTY, and how they affect decision making.  You will also be introduced to the Managing Uncertainty System and its five components.

Module 1 Articulate - In this module you are going to learn why it is important to manage uncertainty, and be introduced to a definition of risk that both Protects and Creates value.  You will also learn the difference between goals and objectives and how to state them,  as well as how to categorize between strategic and operational objectives.

Module 2 Reflect - This module teaches you how to gain a greater understanding of the internal and external environment in which your organization seeks to achieve its objectives.  You will learn how to identify external opportunities and threats as well as internal strengths and weaknesses.

Module 3 Anticipate - In this module you will learn about the process of finding, recognizing, and describing risks based on events that might create, enhance, prevent, degrade, accelerate or delay the achievement of objectives.  You will also learn how to state a risk, including how to understand its root cause.

Module 4 Focus - This module will present a two-part process where you first analyze and then evaluate threats and opportunities to comprehend their nature and magnitude in order to set priorities.  You will also learn some decision-making tips as they apply to both individuals and groups.

Module 5 Respond - In this module you will learn how to decide on one or more options for implementing the best action plans to provide or modify controls.  Controls include any process, policy, device, practice, or other actions which modify risk.

Summary - Based upon his experience as a facilitator, I offer some tips for efficiently implementing effective risk management in your organization.  Included is a self assessment for bench-marking you program

Included are downloadable documents and worksheets that will enable you to brief the participants on each step ahead of time so they can come prepared for each of the conversations.

Who Am I, And Why Should You Listen To Me

My name is Ed Kempkey, and I am a Certified Risk Manager.  In case you’ve never heard of me, here’s why I’m qualified to tell you how to systematically manage uncertainty.

As the author of two books on risk management and decision making, I have devoted years to researching these subjects.  In addition to being a Certified Risk Manager (CRM), I have also earned the designation CT31000 – Certified ISO 31000 Lead Trainer.  This means I have demonstrated knowledge, proficiency, competence, and the skills and ability to train others about the ISO 31000 International Risk Management Standard, which has now become the most popular standard around the world, having been adopted by 73 nations as a national standard.

As the founder of Risk Skills Center, I have been educating and helping busy executives implement effective risk management programs for nearly two decades.  Having conducted many risk assessment workshops, where I teach the Managing Uncertainty System to management teams, I have seen the results it can achieve.   My picture has appeared on the front cover of a national risk management magazine in connection with a story on my work with the wine industry.

You must be absolutely convinced that my Managing Uncertainty System online course and your FREE bonuses will enable you and your team to make better informed decisions in support of achieving your objectives, or just let me know within 30 days and we’ll gladly refund your entire purchase price.

When you really think about it, compared to increasing the likelihood of achieving your objectives, $197 is really just a drop in the bucket.

Consider this:  Over the course of just one year, by which time you will have already anticipated threats to achieving your objectives and identified opportunities to exploit for a competitive advantage, your investment in this system will only be $.54 per day… that’s less than the price of a cup of Starbucks coffee!

Bonus #1:  Access to my Decision SMART online training.  This course will help you avoid some of the problems of human nature that affect our ability to make good decisions, especially when making decisions under uncertainty.

Bonus #2:  A 45-minute consultation call with me to discuss any challenges you face in effectively managing risk in your organization.  I can answer your questions and share some ideas and tips that I have learned from conducting workshops with management teams.

By investing in the Managing Uncertainty System online course you’ll get:

• Seven modules of video training
• Downloadable audio files
• Downloadable PDF transcript files
• Downloadable checklists and worksheets
• The Decision SMART training course
• A consultation call with me

Now that I’ve shown you this no-risk way to protect and create value in your organization, the next move is up to YOU.

If you’ve read this far, you know that you have a strong interest in making better informed decisions that get better results.  All that’s left right now is to take the first step make it happen.  If you want to. . .

• Gain a clear understanding of your objectives and how they will be measured . . .
• Harness the collective wisdom of your team while promoting a sense of teamwork . . .
• Gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities you face . . .
• Promote proactive management . . .
• Improve stakeholder confidence and trust . . .
• Set priorities to improve productivity . . .

…Then you owe it to yourself to take full advantage of this limited, risk-free offer right now.  Every moment that passes is another moment you’re not experiencing these benefits.

In today’s uncertain world, plain “how to, what-to-do” advice alone just won’t cut it.  You need more.  You need a potent combination of powerful advice, proven strategies, and specific, step-by-step examples.

That way you can begin anticipating threats and identifying opportunities to exploit for a competitive advantage as quickly as possible.

The Managing Uncertainty System online course is the only product – perhaps the only source – with this kind of comprehensive information on the internet.  You won’t find anything like it elsewhere, not in any other e-book, website or course, so go ahead and sign up right now.