Critical Risk Research - Editors: Matthew Kearnes, Francisco Klauser & Stuart Lane - Book review

Critical Risk Research

Practices, Politics and Ethics

Edited by: Matthew B. Kearnes, Francisco R. Klauser, Stuart N. Lane

Published: May 1, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 0470974877
ISBN-13: 978-0470974872
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell













"Our presumption is not that risk research is inherently uncritical. Rather, we argue that the intellectual foundations of contemporary risk research need more critical attention", write international researchers in risk research, Matthew B. Kearnes, Francisco R. Klauser, and Stuart N. Lane, editors of the comprehensive and interdisciplinary book Critical Risk Research: Practices, Politics and Ethics. The authors present a series of essays, written by distinguished international experts, that address the fundamental questions of what is risk and how do people relate to it; how are those risks framed, approached, and studied; and what do people know and do about and in the name of risk.

Matthew B. Kearnes, Francisco R. Klauser, and Stuart N. Lane provide essays that takes as its basic premise that to approach and address risk, people must look beyond the usual practices and assumptions. Through the lenses of scientific, economic, and social studies, the essays challenge the current practices, the usual framing, and standard approaches to risk and risk management. The editors offer essays that demonstrate the importance of risks and risk research to the contemporary political process and public awareness. With the focus on risk, risk research, and research analysis in light of current events, risk research is now a critical component of modern policy making efforts.

Matthew B. Kearnes, Francisco R. Klauser, and Stuart N. Lane recognize risk management as an subject for critical study and for renewed debate in the face of constant challenges. Not only does risk research concern itself and its practitioners with natural disasters, but also with urgent new challenges from human created sources. The response to risk and real disaster has ranged from effective to other additional failures in practice.

To address these growing and ever increasing risk research factors, the editors group the contributions into three overall sections. Those three sections ars:

* Practices in risk research
* Politics in risk research
* Ethics in risk research

For me, the power of the book is how Matthew B. Kearnes, Francisco R. Klauser, and Stuart N. Lane provide a collection of academic essays that provide an overview of the practices, politics, and ethics of risk, risk research, and risk management. The editors go beyond the usual studies that focus on the process of managing risk, after the fact, and include the crucial human elements of politics and ethics. With a renewed societal interest in ethics, this book is especially timely, with the inclusion of an important section on ethics.

The contributed essays are well researched, accessible, and completely annotated for additional research and study. The editors succeed in presenting alternative viewpoints that openly challenge the usual procedures and processes of risk, and open up discussion to fresh debate, policy, and actions.

I highly recommend the essential reference book Critical Risk Research: Practices, Politics and Ethics edited by Matthew B. Kearnes, Francisco R. Klauser, and Stuart N. Lane, to any academic researchers, students, business leaders, non-profit organizations, policy makers and analysts, and elected officials at all levels of government, who are seeking a useful overview of the crucial elements of contemporary risk research. This book is an excellent reference for any discussion and debate for finding a new direction for meeting the challenges facing modern risk research.

Tags: Critical Risk Research: Practices, Politics and Ethics, Matthew B. Kearnes, Francisco R. Klauser, Stuart N. Lane, risk research studies, public policy book reviews

Rapid Realignment by George Labovitz & Victor Rosansky - Book review

Rapid Realignment

How to Quickly Integrate People, Processes, and Strategy for Unbeatable Performance

By: George Labovitz, Victor Rosansky

Published: June 5, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 0071791132
ISBN-13: 978-0071791137
Publisher: McGraw-Hill










"Alignment is a condition in which the key elements of an organization - its people, strategy, customers, and processes - work in concert to serve the primary purpose of the enterprise: increasing value for stakeholders", write founder and CEO of ODI, George Labovitz; and cofounder and president of LHR International, Inc., Victor Rosansky, in their transformational and comprehensive book Rapid Realignment: How to Quickly Integrate People, Processes, and Strategy for Unbeatable Performance. The authors describe how the principles of alignment and realignment are the most powerful tools in organizational improvements, and share the strategies and processes to achieve rapid and lasting cultural change within for profit and non-profit organizations.

George Labivitz and Victor Rosansky recognize that that both for profit and non-profit organizations face the serious challenges of change and complexity. Change is taking place at lightning speed, and arriving from several directions at once, including globalization, technological change, demographics and skills of the workforce, and in customer expectations. Complexity increases with the sizes of business units, product lines, and customer demographics. The authors point out that organizations must sense and respond rapidly to these and other challenges. To counter the tide of seemingly overwhelming challenges, the authors recommend the alignment and rapid realignment of strategy, customers, processes, and people.



George Labovitz (left in photo left) and Victor Rosansky (right in photo left) understand the critical importance of cultural change within an organization. For the authors, the change is in the form of cultural realignment, to better align that culture with the overall organizational goals. The authors provide real world evidence of how moving slowly at first, to collect data through listening to employees, customers, and all other stakeholders, builds the foundation for a very fast realignment.

The authors present a complete process for achieving rapid realignment in any type or size of organization.

* An overview of alignment in the big picture
* Aligning people with strategy; and with one another
* Achieving strategy buy in with a passion for its implementation
* Connecting the value creation of the organization with the customers
* Moving people to think outside their silos
* Put the tools of the realignment process into action

For me, the power of the book is how George Labovitz and Victor Rosansky combine the theory of realignment with real world proven processes for its successful implementation. The authors present a holistic approach to integrating the people, processes, customers, and strategy into a unified system. The authors provide the strategy and the reasons why that realignment strategy is important. At the same time, the need to listen to all stakeholders is emphasized as a key to achieving quick realignment.

The authors also understand the importance of culture change, and how to achieve that change effectively, as essential to any realignment goal. The authors share several case studies that demonstrate the principles in action in the real world. The book also contains key chapter self assessments, applicable takeaways and action items that move the leader along in the process.

I highly recommend the very practical and results oriented book Rapid Realignment: How to Quickly Integrate People, Processes, and Strategy for Unbeatable Performance by George Labovitz and Victor Rosansky, to any business leaders seeking a powerful strategy and process for meeting and overcoming the many challenges facing their organizations. This book will change the company culture, both more quickly than ever thought possible, and create the necessary alignment to achieve the overall organizational goals effectively.

Tags: Rapid Realignment: How to Quickly Integrate People, Processes, and Strategy for Unbeatable Performance, George Labovitz, Victor Rosansky, organizational strategy development, business book reviews

Do Nothing! by J. Keith Murnighan - Book review

Do Nothing!

How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader

By: J. Keith Murnighan

Published: June 14, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
ISBN-10: 1591845300
ISBN-13: 978-1591845300
Publisher: Portfolio/Penguin












"Most leaders clearly try to do way too much at work; not only that, because they try to do too much, they perform worse than they otherwise could - and their teams don't perform as well as they could either", writes award-winning Professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, J. Keith Murnighan, in his insightful and very practical book Do Nothing! mHow to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader. The author describes how managers attempt to do too much, causing them to fail to perform their real role as leaders, while stifling the efforts of their teams at the same time; and instead offers the counter-intuitive but highly effective advice of doing nothing.

J. Keith Murnighan understands that the first impulse of most managers is to do something in what they perceive to be a crisis; whether one exists of not. Instead of trusting their team members to do their jobs, the tendency of the over managing leader is to try to do too much. The author points out that this urge to action is precisely the wrong approach to management. It results in two problems that harm the organization. Instead of performing the role of leader, and devising strategy, developing plans, and making important decisions, the micro-manager under-utilizes team members and reduces their level of trust. Instead, J. Keith Murnighan recommends focusing on the job as leader, trusting the staff to do their job, and building team morale and productivity.



J. Keith Murnighan (photo left) recognizes that simply working is not synonymous with leadership. Indeed, the author makes clear that doing the wrong things, or the jobs of team members, actually makes things worse. When tempted to micro-manage or over-manage, the author recommends doing nothing at all. While doing nothing may seem anathema to many driven managers, J. Keith Murnighan provides evidence that instead of the anticipated disaster, good things follow the inaction. Team members feel more trusted to do their jobs and to make decisions, they exceed all expectations including their own, and productivity and morale increase.

J. Keith Murnighan recommends the following strategies for leaders to strengthen their teams, remove their own fear, and build trust:

* Do nothing
* Focus on them
* Start at the end
* trust more
* Release control, deviously
* Bear down warmly
* ignore performance goals
* De-emphasize profits

For me, the power of the book is how J. Keith Murnighan addresses head on the ubiquitous managerial problem of over-managing, and provides practical and actionable solutions to achieve superior results. The author diagnoses the problem the challenges facing leaders who feel the urge, through fear, to do something or anything, when the optimum solution is to do nothing. Instead of micro-managing, the author presents a powerful process for trusting team members, so they can display their true abilities.

The author bolsters his thesis with case studies of the concept of doing nothing in the real world. The results of changing the managerial focus, from the manager to the team, changes the overall dynamic improving both trust levels and net results. Instead of doing more, the concept of doing less is paradoxically more effective in achieving goals.

I highly recommend the transformational and idea filled book Do Nothing! How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader by J. Keith Mornighan, to any leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs seeking an alternative approach to the failed techniques of over-managing and micro-managing. This book will change the way you manage your team, build their trust, and achieve superior results.

Tags: Do Nothing! How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader, J. Keith Murnighan, leadership development, business book reviews