Mastering Risk

Send us Fan Mail At its foundation, the collective modern human system includes four principle spheres: public (government), civil (population), not for profit (community) and private (corporations). Each are inter-dependent to some degree and all are necessary to sustain the human ecosystem. When considering any policy endeavour, good administration requires the inclusion of all spheres. The inte...

Send us Fan Mail Jasper was devastating for those who lost everything, either homes, business, income or all of the above. We hope they'll recover, knowing the next two years will be difficult and challenging at the best of times. For everyone else, do we choose to take this opportunity to learn, to reflect on the losses in Jasper and how our families would fair, would you be ready, have a pl...

Send us Fan Mail There is a limit, irrespective of the evens occurring, where the state capacity is breached and no assistance is possible. That occurs at a different point for various services, but all have their capacity limit. The state is hesitant to delineate this point, communicate it to the residents and advise them as to when they'll be without services.  Preparedness is the totality...

Send us Fan Mail Whether you work at the unskilled level near minimum wage, are within the gig economy on endless contracts, or you are skilled an demanding remote work, you are in a position to have negative impacts on your income in the coming year. Whether or note a formal recession is declared, there will be some significant imbalances in the workplace, choices that impact your income and that...

Send us Fan Mail The fiscal cliff or abyss is not that far off, measured in years to a decade depending on your source, or political lens. Most economists, save those who support modern money theory (MMT), understand that perpetual deficit financing does have a life cycle, an end point where the interest on the debt will exceed the ability of the government to raise additional funds to cover it. W...

Send us Fan Mail For decades, 1990-2020, we enjoyed a period of globalism, an opportunity for individuals and nations to pursue whatever strategy best suited the times and the vision of their citizens. In reality, this was the closing period of globalism, a phenomenon made possible by the Cold War and protected by the vast military industrial complex of the US. The dividend to the western allied g...

Send us Fan Mail Recovery is the poor cousin of emergency management, the ignored friend at the party. They own no lights and sirens, begin to speak when the cameras are gone and are provided with little to offer the stricken public. Those dependant on government assistance to navigate significant disruptions will be prescribed a long and painful experience, loaded with bureaucracy and less than e...

Send us Fan Mail Jasper is but the latest example of the destruction caused by the intersection of a range of human decisions. We build in nature's backyard when fires are an essential part of the ecosystem. We hack the biodiversity of forests to achieve higher yields of profitable species, defeating nature's defence systems agains disease, rot and regulating healthy ecosystems. We choos...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to election chaos, another day in the interesting and if not amusing world of politics, watching the characters cleverly bend themselves and their message to remain relevant. Whether we're speaking of the change in US Presidential candidates, or the crevices in the European experiment, this week has been very popcorn worthy. We don't vote for preparedness, so the...

Send us Fan Mail The failure of Microsoft Windows IT based systems as a result of a third part software update from Cloudstrike serves as a telling tale of preparedness. Who has been affected, to what degree and how is their recovery planning rolling out? Preparedness is the set of cognitive decisions and physical actions undertaken in times of peace that facilitate navigating chaos. We live in a...

Send us Fan Mail To define a prepper we need a set of measurable variables, ones that should be grounded in evidence, or at the least be attributable to a known theoretical framework. The later is our pathway to the definition. Our research has led us away from personal and subjective announcements to an evolving framework. We begin with the fact that we live in a technologically enabled, intercon...

Send us Fan Mail Traditional preparedness encompasses navigating incidents related to natural events, be that storms, earthquakes, floods or other natural hazards. This is the initial 20% of preparedness, once we consider economic, political, cultural and familial events, we discuss the next 80%. Economic pressures include high inflation, interest rates, rents, unemployment and a host of influence...

Send us Fan Mail Season ten was our focus on practical preparedness, translating ideas, theories and concepts to physical and cognitive actions that will enable you to rock an credible life, while insulated from exogenous shock. From community preparedness, to designing a simple life, to navigating political chaos, preparedness creates the conditions for you and your family to pursue your dreams,...

Send us Fan Mail In times of struggle and strife, humans turn to trusted sources for information and ideas that help them make informed decisions. Trust is earned, not anointed and is built through providing value and truthful communications. We know that trust in government is a plurality and trending down. The pandemic created a divide in the public, many of whom look for the hidden intent and p...

Send us Fan Mail We see evacuations on the news, miles of traffic jams headed no where, lauded as successful movement of people from a danger zone. No, there is so much more that can be done to manage the route, command traffic and move groups at speed through the route to the destination.  You have the ability to plan, to consider the options for evacuation and create a plan for your family that...

Send us Fan Mail Preparedness is the totality of physical and cognitive initiatives that permit the navigation of exogenous shocks. Many have a narrow view of preparedness, the limited ideas of shelter in place, have a plan, be informed and have a kit.  This episode discusses the idea that the current understanding of preparedness represents 20% of the concept. The next 80% of preparedness encompa...

Send us Fan Mail Preparedness extends far beyond kits, plans and information, the focus of government communications. The remaining 80% of adopting a prepared life is found beyond that spectrum, where strategic thinking aids in understanding the environment in which you operate, the risk and hazard profiles and provides roadmaps to mitigation. Cyber exposure is no different, with our entire societ...

Send us Fan Mail Preparedness plans are the logical start point of beginning the journey to accept responsibility for your outcomes and protect you and your family from exogenous shocks. Throughout the process, there will likely be times when you lack a capability or equipment to exectute a task you determined was critical for your family's plan. Natural Disaster Survival Products subscribes...

Send us Fan Mail Fun discussion into a culturally structured socially acceptable practice - how do you introduce yourself to someone? Is it context specific, different in the club versus the workplace, at the sports field or with your friends at a venue? Do you introduce yourself as a title, defining your success and accomplishments with a certain level of the organization? Are your a Director, or...

Send us Fan Mail Simple right, everyone knows that. So why, after decades of preparedness communications do so many families remain in difficult situations and not ready to navigate crisis? The question is how do we define preparedness? Our response is three elements: personal responsibility, attitude and strategic thinking, which collectively translate to you accepting that the world is largely c...

Send us Fan Mail SOE are enacted to provide the government to expedite normal processes to address the needs of a rapid onset event. However, there is a political side show of politicians racing to the stage in their crested jackets to look in command, to demonstrate prowess under duress, to look like they're in control. The reality is that all of this is not required, the powers can be embed...

Send us Fan Mail There is a persistent ideological frame in emergency management that it lies within the public and NGO sectors, leaving significant assets outside response. We chat with Kris about the role of contracted firefighting in the wildland urban interface fires of 2023 and the capabilities within the private sector to meet the expanding needs of the public sector. An interesting discussi...

Send us Fan Mail There are four responses to every emergency event - public sector (1st responders), your family, the community neighbours and the corporate world. Largely uncoordinated, these will each occur to some degree whenever a disruption occurs. With an average ratio of 5500-1 for traditional first responders to residents, it is difficult to rely upon being served immediately after a signi...

Send us Fan Mail The role of preparedness is to wrap your life in a blanket of insulation, to mitigate against exogenous shocks, to allow you to continue to rock an incredible life and pursue your dreams. This episode is about the rationale for choosing your life, to do what you want for an income, to pick your leisure activities and to be incredibly happy. It is a choice to get up everyday to do...

Send us Fan Mail Do you need to go without food for a few days to understand hunger? Not drink for a day to feel extreme thirst? Not change clothes for a week to see whether merino wool will eventually stink? Probably not. So do you need to turn off the power at home to practice a power outage drill? Evacuate the home on short notice to see whether it will work? Welcome to the concept of Table Top...