What unnecessary risks am I
currently accepting? What risks should I stop accepting? How can I
do more to minimize these unnecessary risks?
Which calculated risks would
improve my life and or organization?
How can I improve the risk
allocation of the projects I attempt? Suppose we are considering 2 types
of projects. Project Xs will work 80% of the time, but they will only give us
modest returns. Project Ys will only work 20% of the time, but when they
are successful, they will yield returns 1,000 times greater than Project Xs.
What is my current ratio of Project Xs vs Project Ys? How would an
intelligent stranger advise me to improve my ratio?
How can we make Project Ys more
likely to succeed 80% of the time?
Fixing Murphy’s Law
Murphy’s Law states that the
worst possible thing that can go wrong will always go wrong at the worst
possible time. It’s been said that proper risk management and or buffer
management can counteract Murphy’s Law. What things always seem to be going
wrong in my life / organization? How can I systematically improve
them?
Would it be best to standardize
the allocation of my organization’s resources in key areas more to better
manage buffers? Conversely, would it be best to customize processes so
that people in my organization absorb their own buffers? Would it be
better for our organization to do more bulk processing, or more
one-unit-at-a-time processing? Ex, at different times Ford and Toyota
both succeeded by applying seemingly contradicting approaches.
How can we do a better job of
fixing / dealing with the biggest bad actors / problem root causes (machines,
materials, mother nature events, methods, men / women, measurements) in our
organization? How can I do a better job of leaving additional resource
buffers (additional time, money, manpower / womanpower) at the places where
Murphy (from Murphy’s Law) is most likely to show his ugly head?
What key metrics best describe
the way my organization is managing its most vulnerable risks? What is
the best schedule / plan to regularly track these metrics? How can we
best improve these metrics?
What can I do to add to my
neighborhood’s safety level? What can I do to add to my industry’s safety
level?
How can I improve the safety
and or security of my family today?
How can I make my assets
safer? Do I have enough insurance? Ex, do I live in a flood
plain? What actions should I take to better prepare myself for the kind
of natural disasters that are likely to hit my area?
How much of my records are
saved on my computer or the Internet? Are these things safe? How
can I make them safer?
What lessons about safety have I
forgotten that I should remember?
Who do I know that has mastered
security? Who do I know that has done something daring in a safe
way? Is it wise for me to be more like this person? If so, how can
I?
How can fear serve me?
What irrational fears am I
overcoming? What irrational fears should I overcome? How can I
harness the power of John J Rambo (or whatever superhero I choose) to overcome
my irrational fears? (Rambo isn’t even real. But I am!! Die
irrational fear! Die!)
When was the last time I
actively tried to overcome an irrational fear? How amazing did the process
feel? How could I have made the experience better?
Why is public speaking so
valuable? How can it be more fun?
Would temporary and or periodic
fasting be valuable for me? How could it be more fun?
What impressive person can I
think of that worked to overcome an irrational fear?
What rational fears should I
pay more attention to?
What risks are my leaders /
followers not paying enough attention to? How can I do a better job of
eliminating these risks? How can I do a better job of telling other
people about risks they should be paying attention to? What risks am I not paying
enough attention to? What risks am I giving too much attention to?
If I were to hire a risk manager to observe me, my family, my organization, while we are at work, at the gym, on vacation, what would this person say? Would I be ashamed to read his/her report to my investors / mother?
Security of body, employment,
of resources, of morality, of the family, of health of property
It’s been said that the only
job security in life is a job done well. With that in mind, how can I do
my job better today than I did it yesterday?
How can I improve my value at
my company today?
What can I do today that will
make people at my work happier to have me around?
How can I improve the security
of my resources today?
What ethical choices was I
posed with yesterday? Am I proud of the decisions I made?
From the Art of War
“If you know yourself and you
know your ‘enemy’, you will win every battle.” If I am a general, and the
biggest constraint on the accomplishment of my goal is my enemy, how well do I
know myself? How well do I know my enemy? How can I learn more
about my enemy?
When is the best time to attack
my enemy?
Which side is better equipped
to handle the 7 considerations of war:
1) Which side has the moral
law? How can this be improved? How can we be more certain we are
“on the moral side of the law?” What changes do I need to make so that I
am on “the moral side of the law”?
2) Which general has the best
ability? As general, how can I improve my ability?
3) Which side has the greatest
advantage derived from heaven and earth (is positioned to more easily deal with
frustrations stemming from things like; day, night, heat, times, seasons,
distances to travel, terrain, etc.)? How can we better deal with these
frustrations? How can we improve our positional advantage? Instead of
seeing it as a “retreat”, would it be ideal to see ourselves “advancing in a
new direction” to a place where we can have such an advantage?
4) On which side is discipline
most rigorously enforced? What things should we be most disciplined
about? How can we improve this?
5) Which side is stronger? How
can I make my side stronger?
6) On which side are leaders
and followers more highly trained? How can we better train our people?
7) On which side is there the
greatest consistency both in reward and punishment? How can I be more
consistent in my rewards and punishments?
How can I be more observant,
resourceful, and adaptive of the people and or forces that threaten my safety
and security the most? How can I irritate them until they make fatal
errors?
Laying plans: What does my
enemy look like? What has been /will be my biggest constraint? What
vulnerabilities do our current plans leave exposed? What are we
miscalculating? What calculations are we least certain of? How can
they be improved?
How can I improve my plans?
How can I learn more about my
fighting ability?
If I am smaller, how can I evade my enemy?
If I'm bigger, how can I
surround my enemy?
How can I better reward the
people who fight with me?
How can I avoid battles I will
probably lose?
What battle am I most certain
to win?
How can I make the battle
shorter?
How can I take my enemy's
ground without destroying it?
How can I capture an entire
regiment, attachment, or army without harming it?
How can I break my enemy's will without fighting?
How can I block my enemy's
plans? How can I subdue my enemy's troops without fighting?
Or, am I just missing
something? Would it be smart to simply go along with my “enemy’s”
plans? Should I just change the metaphor and simply start seeing this person
as a friend? Instead of arguing for 6 hours every day, perhaps it would
be better to just say, “You may be right. If I was in your position I
might see the world exactly as you do.” If so, how can I do a better job
of expressing gratitude & sincere appreciation to this person/people more
so that we stop fighting and work together better?
Were Socrates, Mahatma Ghandi,
Martin Luther, and Martin Luther King Jr. all cowards, or could I learn
something from them?
Do I know when to fight &
when not to fight? How can I learn more about when not to fight? If
I’m going to fight, how can I set up the odds so heavily in my favor that I
have virtually zero chance of losing?
How can I leave myself a safety
net so that if I do happen to lose I will be able to quickly recover and
continue moving forward?
Do I know how to handle
superior & inferior forces? Which of my enemies are smaller? Bigger? How
can I make them my friends?
Is my army animated with the
same spirit throughout our ranks? Is quality too low? Should I try for more
standardization? Do our people feel too micromanaged? Should I allow more
individuality?
Can I wait to take the enemy
when it is unprepared?
Can I keep my military capacity
separated from the "sovereign"? How can I remove unnecessary
bureaucracy from my organization? How can I do a better job of making smart
decisions instead of popular decisions?
How can I put myself beyond the
possibility of defeat & then wait for my enemy to present an opportunity to
be defeated? How can I make my processes so simplified there is no possibility
of error?
What checklists should I use?
How can I set up sensors that detect and alert when defects happen? Do I
encourage enough constructive criticism? Do I punish and or ostracize the
whistle blowers in my organization?
How can I fix my weak points?
How can I mask them until they can be fixed?
How can I avoid my enemy's
strong points?
How can I avoid my enemy's will
& impose my own?
What places can I attack that
are not defended?
What markets do I see that
could be better served?
Gravity & water have great
power. How can I use natural forces to fix the weakest parts of my processes?
How can I push a boulder down a hill or in a stream onto my enemy? What
resources can I better utilize to improve my processes?
Comfort Zone Expansion Exercises
From simply smiling at random
strangers, to sky diving, to buying and or selling stuff at flea markets, to
arguing prices at retail stores, movie theatres, etc., to selling things on the
Internet, self-development authors often promote comfort zone expansion
exercises. Author Timothy Ferriss recommends many exercises including
simply laying down in public. Og Mandino says that door-to-door sales
jobs develop character. Frederic Lehrman says people can benefit from
haggling at supermarkets even if people agree to pay more than originally
marked prices. When was the last time I actively attempted to expand my
comfort zone?
What did I learn? What comfort
zone expanding exercises can I think of?
What comfort zone expanding
exercises am I willing to try today?
How can I better reward myself /
the people in my organization for performing comfort expanding exercises; even
when the processes feel embarrassing in the mome