I am not a person who jumps on bandwagons but with the death of Steve Jobs, the world has lost a really interesting thinker.

I love some of his quotes

"That's been one of my mantras -- focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains."

This is so true and is so close to my own thinking  and with my clients, I help you to keep it simple.. 

And the other memorable quote from Steve Jobs prompted me to write the next article.

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

My personal risk management
This is about my personal experience with breast cancer some years back and it is useful because it demonstrates the same process that I use for business risk.  It also stopped me in my tracks and made me think through what is important in my life.

Helping business become more risk aware and less vulnerable by using simple and effective systems is right up there as one of the things that is important to me.

I was aware of an increased risk of breast cancer because of my family history so
Aspect is family history
Impact is potential for breast cancer
Assessed risk – higher than average
Objective – to demonstrate to my daughters that history does not determine your future.  There does not need to be a bad outcome
Resources – regular screening
Target or KPI is a long and healthy life

OK the game changed when the monitoring picked up breast cancer – thankfully at an early stage due to the regularity of checks.

I increased the resources to include a double mastectomy, gene testing and subsequent ovary removal once I realised that I had an abnormal BRCA2 gene that increases the incidence of both breast and ovarian cancer.

My objective remains the same - to demonstrate to my daughters that history does not determine your future.  There does not need to be a bad outcome.  My KPI is still a long and healthy life which is happening.

This is October which is breast cancer awareness month so this should be a reminder to all the women in your life to keep checking.  It is definitely better to know as early as possible and get rid of it.

This is the process we use (omitting surgery of course) for every risk you identify in your business and we make sure that your resources are suitable for ongoing achievement of your target.  Plus we add a feedback loop. 

And it is so true that history does not determine your future.

You can learn about how this process will work in your business at my upcoming workshops in Melbourne, Adelaide and the Gold Coast

Melbourne November 5th and 6th,  Ether Centre, 265 Bourke St, Melbourne

Adelaide  November 19th and 20th, Hotel Grand Chancellor on Hindley

My kindest regards,

Jean

Articles

Google are Counting Carbon

In early September, Google publicly disclosed details of its carbon footprint for the first time, launching the Google Green website in the process.

The search giant revealed a carbon footprint of 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂ emitted per year – roughly on par with the United Nations and slightly higher than Laos.

City of Sydney plans recycled water network

The City of Sydney is finalising plans for a recycled water network that will include use of the Botany aquifer which extends from Redfern and Surry Hills, through Centennial Park and on to Botany Bay.

Coal is not so cheap

The highly prestigious American Economic Review has published new economic analysis with an assessment of the costs of pollution from fossil fuel industries, and concludes that coal is doing more harm to the US economy than good – and that doesn’t take into account its climate impact.

Electric Hire Cars in Paris

An electric car hire scheme has been launched in Paris, in what could become the start of a quiet revolution in the French capital.   It certainly would be quiet!

If we had all electric cars the suburbs would be so much quieter.  Last weekend, with the Bathurst car race on, it was really noisy in my local area as the wanna-be car champions revved their cars around the block.

Strategic thinking in an uncertain world

Business in Australia is in an uncertain world and we love certainty as a framework for our strategy.  The answer is – get over it.  Learn to live with uncertainty because there is no choice.

Carbon monoxide study delivers a surprise

A recent study in Western Australia by Telethon Institute for Child Health Research Gavin Pereira found that mothers in areas moderately polluted by carbon monoxide gave birth to children who were smaller.

p.s. Most  of my readers tell me this newsletter is a great way of getting up to date information easily but if you are really snowed under by lots of emails from other sources you can chose to keep in touch by emailling jean@jeancannon.com.au and go onto the monthly list.