Mastering Risk

Send us Fan Mail Seldom do people make decisions in isolation, they seek information, knowledge and opinion of trusted sources to inform what their options. We’re learning that counter to the neo-classical economic thought, humans make decisions on emotion and later use logic to justify it. We used to believe that decisions were made at the margins, incremental and always with our own best interes...

Send us Fan Mail Our intent in this five part series is to demystify the idea of resilience, to ground it in the philosophy of preparedness and to provide the operationalization of research. Everything that follows is based upon defendable data sources, evidence to support a recommended pathway, to ensure that you receive only what we “know” to be helpful. A caveat first - science is imperfect. It...

Send us Fan Mail Framing our situation is important, because the lens we choose to use when examining the world around us influences what we see, the actions we believe are helpful and the outcomes we seek. Ask an academic about the choice of theoretical frameworks and you’ll need copious amounts of caffeine to survive the lecture. Prominent, exceptionally important, yet rarely discussed. Leaders...

Send us Fan Mail We have seen a notable and systemic shift in the role of individualism in Canada , the emergence of a default assumption that the correct and appropriate response to a collective issue is government intervention. That may be in the form of access to financial resources, programatic offerings or a new set of policy interventions in society.  This set the stage for the pandemic, the...

Send us Fan Mail First, a sincere thank you for the support over the past half decade, we've been a stalwart voice in the pandemic, offering evidence-based strategies to protect your family from the personal and economic harm. Our Season 13 was grounded in providing that guidance and speaking to a number of key notable figures.  Season 14 begins with the 5th year anniversary episode, followed...

Send us Fan Mail This month I had the honour of visiting northern Ontario, while devoid of mountains and lighthouses, it has a unique beauty, a draw that mesmerizes the mind. A combination of the boreal forest and the Canadian Shield, the landscape is an endless assortment of 1000s of lakes, rivers, small towns and a connectedness to both the people and the land. A sense of place, whether here by...

Send us Fan Mail Tariffs, elections, wars and a host of other calamities lead many into learned helplessness, the idea that there is little within your control to protect against and ameliorate the effects of disasters. That is incorrect, you have the power of community, the strength embedded in the social capital - human relationships - across the business, public and private sectors of your comm...

Send us Fan Mail Mike Tyson was correct, we all have a plan, but few are ready for a right cross. Welcome to 2025, if you're not persuaded by now that this decade is disruptive and volatile, I'm not sure what would help. The foundation of preparedness is that it is up to you to strategize your life and then plan for the uncertain but likely chaotic event that is just around the corner. W...

Send us Fan Mail These are challenging times, we are facing an ever-increasing frequency of dramatic alternations to the international order, which have downstream influences on our lives. There seems little we control and therefore are doomed to be victims. A counter to that is to understand that we do have options, there is a methodology to find certainty and lower anxiety in these chaotic times...

Send us Fan Mail We exist in a dependant culture, one where we collectively expect and believe there is an entitlement to public sector support in times of disaster. We fund governments through taxation and the social contract dictates that services are afforded to the public in support of continued societal operations. There is much debate over the current state of public sector disaster organiza...

Send us Fan Mail There are no shortage of diatribes online about the state of global leadership, whether your guy is making the necessary realignments long called for but never enacted, or someone left the baboon door open at the zoo, and apologies to the baboons, this is a chaotic time for the global order. While expected in the 2020s , this is even more abrupt than some of the great thinkers ima...

Send us Fan Mail If we accept that the 2020s is our turn at the expected global organizational shift, then we might benefit from considering what we would like to see emerge. While we as individuals have little effect on national outcomes and international order, we can foster support for those who may be in unique positions. At each cycle in history, notable figures emerged, individuals with a po...

Send us Fan Mail I’ve written at length over the past few months about the political and economic crises that looms over the world, the jaxapositioning of nations to find their place in the new world order and the likely impacts on populations. This polycrisis is longitudinal, will continue until 2032 and has many more hands to play, which makes it that much more difficult to predict the next move...

Send us Fan Mail Comfort feels great, easy and simple. But as the old adage proves, success and opportunity are found outside your comfort zone. For several decades Canada has chosen to be complacent, comfortable and dormant. We’ve lost our way, from a nation of builders, adventures, explores and innovators, to a couch potato collection of dependasaurus and whiners. We wanted a better world, we ch...

Send us Fan Mail Governments are a finicky thing, often maligned, never understood and staffed by a host of individuals who the population generally views as unproductive and inefficient. These views are present whether you are a libertarian or socialist, we the omnipotent citizens believe there is substantial and unchallenged waste and pork barrelling throughout our governance systems. Cue DOGE....

Send us Fan Mail We often bemoan the loss of the Boomer's dream, single family income that pays for a home, vacations and earns a nice retirement pension to enjoy time with grandchildren. Those were wonderful times, but that was only possible with an economic system that supported that life. That ship sailed, those economic models do not exist yet many still try to correlate life in 2025 with...

Send us Fan Mail What can you do to insulate you and your family from the effects of tariff decisions by foreign governments? The intent of this episode is to outline why the US government is making this decision, the rationale for nations to adopt organic production regimes and how these economic pivots affect your life.  We all are exposed to risk, based upon the employment we choose, the locati...

Send us Fan Mail Communities are only as strong as their connections, our sense of belonging and place is what ties us geographically and to membership in wider organizations. In our cities and towns populations exist that draw a disproportionate amount of resources in an emergency, but are omitted from planning considerations. Often, the emergency management team simply is unaware of the agencies...

Send us Fan Mail Bluster, ideological idiocy and a host of other hot air producing commentary is drowning our social media and semi-professional forums. Like all issues, everyone is now a trade expert, understands international treaties, exceptions and can provide a detailed rationale for this and the next iteration of team A or B. Whether we launch a war on trade, resources, ideology, cultural ap...

Send us Fan Mail Rinse and repeat, repacked or polished, increased volume or new influencers - all methodologies leveraged by the public sector in attempts to convince the population that their preparedness communications are accurate, helpful and should be adopted.  I’ve spent over a decade examining this very specific phenomenon, what I refer to as “ public sector resident-facing preparedness co...

Send us Fan Mail There are a few sources to lead us to a conclusion, the first being our legislation. As this is local to national, and to some degree multilateral and multinational, we codify our intent in laws that are geographically bounded. The state EM legislation governs the roles and responsibilities of the field in that state, with no influence or authority over the neighbouring states. In...

Send us Fan Mail Whenever the deliverable from a public sector agency fails to meet expectations, there are two general causes. First, is the most likely, that the expectation of the target audience was outsized or inconsistent with the actual legislated and funded mission. We see this in ad hoc interviews and formal press conferences, where a resident or mayor states they thought the response wou...

Send us Fan Mail Humans are tribal, we are a species that thrives in the collective, where individual skills are amplified by the resources and assistance of others. Throughout our known history, we’ve been organized into different groups for specific purposes, whether that be family, relational, cultural or fulfilling our basic needs. Classically presented as the Dunbar number , named after a not...

Send us Fan Mail “ The global order is under revision ”, likely the most understated quote from a series of interviews surrounding the inauguration of the latest US President. The events of the past 48 hours and the weeks to come will to the best of every pundit’s ability, be tied to the new leader of the free world, whether you’re a supporter or detractor.  The reality is that, as I’ve written be...

Send us Fan Mail The point is vacations matter, to disconnect and repair. The mind and body are finite tools for life, they are our mot important resource, the key to our success and the reason we’ll exit. I’ve learned that when I say I’m gone, to be gone. So this year, I pre-recorded all the podcast episodes for Inside My Canoehead , wrote a few Substack articles and prepared notes for my return....