Global Risk Agility and Decision Making

By: Daniel Wagner, Dante Disparte

Narrated by: Joseph R. Durika

Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

Cyber-risk, climate change, and terrorism are all man-made risks. Daniel Wagner and Dante Disparte, two leading authorities in global risk management, make a compelling case for the need to bring traditional approaches to risk management and decision-making into the 21st century. Based on their own deep and multi-faceted experience in risk management across numerous firms in dozens of countries, the authors call for a greater sense of urgency from corporate boards, decision makers, line managers, policymakers, and risk practitioners to address and resolve the plethora of challenges facing today's private and public sector organizations.

Set against the era of man-made risk, where transnational terrorism, cyber-risk, and climate change are making traditional risk models increasingly obsolete, they argue that remaining passively on the sidelines of the global economy is dangerous, and that understanding and actively engaging the world is central to achieving risk agility. Their definition of risk agility taps into the survival and risk-taking instincts of the entrepreneur while establishing an organizational imperative focused on collective survival.

The agile risk manager is part sociologist, anthropologist, psychologist, and quant. Risk agility implies not treating risk as a cost of doing business, but as a catalyst for growth. Wagner/Disparte bring the concept of risk agility to life through a series of case studies that cut across industries, countries, and the public and private sectors. The rich, real-world examples underscore how once mighty organizations can be brought to their knees - and even their demise - by simple miscalculations or a failure to just do the right thing. The listener is offered deep insights into specific risk domains that are shaping our world, including terrorism, cyber-risk, climate change, and economic resource nationalism, as well as a frame of reference from which to think about risk management and decision making in the 21st century.

©2016 Palgrave Macmillan (P)2016 Daniel Wagner and Dante Disparte

Critic Reviews

"You have to manage risks before they manage you. Global Risk Agility provides a practical platform for greater risk governance at all layers of an organization and society. With this compelling work, we can no longer plead ignorance to the era of man-made risk nor can we afford a slow search for causality. It is time to mount our defenses to the effects of cyber risk, terrorism, climate change and other interconnected threats, which Wagner and Disparte masterfully deconstruct in this book." (Tom Ridge, first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania and Chairman of Ridge Global (USA).)

"Globalization's 'interconnectedness' is moderating our tribal savage instincts; Conflict has become a growth industry. This book reveals what diplomats know -- if you accept a risk environment for its hidden opportunities, your interests will be greater, and better served. The rest is up to us -- to be able to identify risks and realize those opportunities. The authors' lens adds clarity to this risk/opportunity landscape to illustrate that agility, not fear, will capture those opportunities. Wagner and Disparte split the atom on risk, and their book shows how to harness it." (Hugh T. Dugan, U.S. Department of State career diplomat, senior advisor to ten U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations, and Distinguished Visiting Scholar of UN Studies, School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University (USA).)

"Global Risk Agility and Decision Making is a must read for government officials (either elected or career), for business men and women, and for all those who value their economic future. Sun Tzu famously said in his epic book The Art of War, "if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." That book is a must read at every military school. Wagner and Disparte's book gives you the knowledge and ability to know about the enemy -- risk -- and what the threats are. They address innovation, agility, and preparation, along with a treasure trove of other recommendations. Put this book at the top of your reading list!" (Steve Cheney, Brigadier General, United States Marine Corps (Retired) and CEO of the American Security Project (USA).)

A "must" read!

Would you listen to Global Risk Agility and Decision Making again? Why?

For anyone engaged in or contemplating how risk affects us all, please read this book!

What did you like best about this story?

Well-written and easy-to-understand!

Important and timely

This is essential reading for anyone involved in risk management and decision-making in the 21st Century - and that's just about all of us. Daniel Wagner and Dante Disparte have produced a thorough, well-researched and very readable guide on why risk management needs to change how this can be done. They go where other risk management texts fear to tread - by directly addressing that in most organisations, the discipline of risk management is often unintegrated, rigid/inflexible, and compliance-based. They offer numerous real and practical examples and very insightful takes on prominent cases - including the Volkswagen emissions scandal, the global financial crisis, the Germanwings plane crash, any many others in both the public and private sectors. The recommendations around thinking long-term, being agile, being bold, turning the pyramid upside down, and doing the right thing are timeless. Highly recommended.