Category Archives: Business
Tearing Down the Walls: The Interdisciplinary Nature of Crisis Management
The late great distinguished Social Systems Thinker par excellence, Russell L. Ackoff said it best of all: “Nature is not organized in the same way that universities are.” The fact that universities put Engineering and Physics in one part of … Continue reading
Internal Assassin Teams: The Best Protection for Crises
While there are no sure-fire methods that will guarantee that one is prepared for any and all crises, Internal Assassin Teams are among the best of all of the known alternatives. At the same time, it’s also one of the … Continue reading
The Key Role of Personality in Crisis Management
The Myers-Briggs Personality Framework, which is encapsulated in the Myers Briggs Typology Indicator or MBTI is crucial to the understanding of Crisis Management (CM). Before I begin, I need to acknowledge that the MBTI is not without substantial controversy. Its … Continue reading
Digging Deeper: Crisis Management, A Special Form of Inquiry
Given that so much is riding on it, Crisis Management (CM) expressly calls for a special in-depth examination in terms of an IS. Basically, an IS is a systematic way of producing knowledge with respect to an important matter. Specifically, … Continue reading
Cybersecurity Crisis Management: What Can Go Wrong and How to Get It Right
by Natalia Smalyuk and Ian I. Mitroff Solar Wind, the Colonial Pipeline, Canada Post. Hardly a week goes by without a massive hack hitting the headlines. The new pandemic of attacks, with threat actors targeting critical sectors, from public service to infrastructure … Continue reading
Wall Street: An Unmitigated Culture of Risk
Earlier this year, we published Swans, Swine, and Swindlers: Coping with the Growing Threat of Mega Crises and Mega Messes. It was an in-depth study of the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. While it was written long before the latest JP Morgan Chase debacle, unfortunately, it anticipated it perfectly. Indeed, it predicted that unless there were momentous changes in the culture of Wall Street, we were in for more of the same. Continue reading
The Age of Super Crises
The notion of healing or repairing the world is more vital than ever. Indeed, with the advent of super crises, it has taken a whole new meaning. Crises have the potential to destroy entire industries, bring down governments, and adversely affect large regions of the globe. Not only are they bigger, costlier, and deadlier, but they come at us faster and faster. Continue reading
Commonwealth Club Lecture on C-SPAN
On February 24, 2010, I gave a talk on my latest book, Dirty Rotten Strategies, at the Commonwealth Club of California. In my talk, I examine how many institutions either solve the wrong problems unintentionally, or worse, intentionally tackle the right problems in the wrong way. Continue reading
Managing Toyota’s Recall Crisis
Will giant print ads, television appearances and apologies made by Toyota’s CEO help the car maker regain customer confidence? Canada’s Business News Network interviewed me about Toyota’s recall crisis on the February 3, 2010, episode of a business show called SqueezePlay. Continue reading
Democrats Need to Talk Turkey and Show Their Colors on Pocketbook Issues
Democrats need to make it abundantly clear that they hear the cries of PTA parents of Main Street and not the AIG barons of Wall Street. More importantly, they must become a voice for them by taking on and fighting the Goliaths who got us into this mess. Continue reading