To the Romans, Minerva was the goddess of, among other things, poetry, wisdom, warriors, commerce and medicine. This blog certainly isn’t poetry, and I am but a student of all of the disciplines Minerva mastered. But I’ve been fortunate to have had a broad and rich set of career experiences. My 23 years of experience did in fact start with poetry analysis! I then worked in microfinance, at an international security think tank, for a managment consulting firm and with several firms supporting the US Department of Defense. I have experience working on biodefense preparedness and for a biotechnology firm that makes therapeutic medicines.

Why Am I Writing This Blog?

Over the course of my career, I have worked with leaders across these several disciplines, and I have seen them struggle with many of the same important issues. I have also been fortunate to be there as a partner in developing solutions for these problems. If only there were a way for all of us to share these experiences…

I do really hope that the blog serves as a catalyst for many rich dialogues. I’ll share some thoughts and proposals based on my own experiences. Your comments that share your own experience and different perspectives are most welcome. I can keep a monologue in a diary!

What Do I Write About?

Key topics I’ll include in my posts are listed below. You will notice that a single post will often address more than one category. That is because these big and challenging areas are usually linked, and I am thinking about holistic ways of addressing them. You may end up commenting that I’ve missed a linkage or two–I thank you in advance for that.

Strategy

I’ve seen so many organizations, public and private, large and small, struggle with what this concept really means. Posts on this topic will range from discussions of this fundamental question to how to strategy links to policy, risk or operational planning–how do you implement?

Policy

Both public and private organizations wrestle with developing the right policies to effectuate a certain strategy. Policies can also be key communication tools, whether we are taking about Nuclear Declaratory Policy or a company’s compliance policy. I’ll share my insights on how to link policy to strategy and make sure it sends the right messages. I’ll also share thoughts on how to drive adoption of new policies and how to measure their effectiveness.

Risk

Here I’ll share thoughts on how risk is linked to the above two topics, but also on how to implement effective risk management processes, from risk identification and analysis to response decisions and reporting. I’ll also discuss current trends in the risk management requirements for public or regulated organizations.

Change

I don’t think that many would argue that there is a lot of big change going on right now. How do organizations adapt successfully? How do they bring along those most uncomfortable with internal organizational changes needed to address external change?

Communication

Communication is so important in times of change. Yet we sometimes forget that communication involves both transmission and reception. Our drive to control the messages we send can make us forget to listen–whether that be to allies and adversaries in the political realm or to our customers and other stakeholders in the private sector. I’ll share some insights from both worlds on how to do this in constructive ways.

I hope you enjoy The Minerva Blog. Thanks for reading. I look forward to your comments!