Rehearsing before class

So much about risk management needs to be re-emphasized on the first day of class.  To paraphrase the key points about risk in a new risk guidebook that I've been involved with:

• Risks are not always negative.
• If you manage risk, you are managing performance.
• Managing risks is about managing opportunities.

I've got 13 students registered for this advanced course that looks at whether or not risk is handled differently in the public sector than in the private sector.  Add to this first class an additional seven visitors, who will be entering the MSIM program next fall.

I'm incorporating feedback I received from my winter risk course evaluation.  We'll still have eight guest speakers in the first hour, but then I'm going to take the next hour or so to engage more in a discussion than a lecture, including scenarios that will allow the students to practice the art of risk assessment before they actually have to present at the end of each week. This quarter's guest speakers are superb:

• Lucianne Phillips, FEMA Regional Private Sector Liaison
• Mike Hamilton, CEO of Critical Informatics, former City of Seattle CISO
• Michele Turner, Sr. Compliance Mgr, Microsoft Universal Store
• Al Wilson, Director of Business Continuity, BECU
• Todd Mack, Deloitte Tech Risk, Risk and Resilience Director
• Mike Howard, Microsoft Chief Security Officer
• Mary Gardner, Information Security Officer, FredHutch
• Aaron Weller, Director of Cybersecurity and Privacy, PwC 

Off I go....