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Category: Andrew Ourique

Andrew Ourique: Investigating the Upside of Risk

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“I can confidently say that I come away from every course learning something new but there was one course in particular that changed everything for me. It not only changed how I perceived the world of business, but also changed how I perceived the world around me. It helped me see things differently, clearly, perhaps for the first time”.

Andrew Ourique, MBA(FS), Class of 2023

Andrew Ourique, MBA(FS), Class of 2023
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The MBA Financial Services Specialization speaks to ‘its ability to advance a student’s critical analysis and decision-making skills, and deepen their understanding and ability to have positive impacts in managerial and client service roles’ (Dal.ca).  This statement is especially true for Andrew Ourique who shares his journey of ups and downs leading him to a path of entrepreneurship.

Andrew’s decision to share his expertise in business, his deeper understanding of risk and even himself provided a positive life changing perspective with his new venture.

Andrew Ourique

When I began my MBA journey, my goal, like many, was to move up in my career. While I had always envisioned myself returning to entrepreneurship, the stability and financial security of a corporate job made the idea of chasing this dream feel somewhat selfish. I had commitments, I need to provide for my family and I thought, what better way to do that then to provide a steady and reliable stream of income.

The program at Dalhousie has taught me a lot. I can confidently say that I come away from every course learning something new but there was one course in particular that changed everything for me. It not only changed how I perceived the world of business, but also changed how I perceived the world around me. It helped me see things differently, clearly, perhaps for the first time.

In the Enterprise Risk Management course, taught by Dr. Rick Nason, he taught us that risk is not, as I incorrectly assumed, the possibility that bad things may happen. It is the possibility that bad or good things may happen.

At the time I was taking this course I was experiencing a number of ups and downs in my life. I had been finally coming to terms with past trauma I had experienced and a diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). For those unaware, GAD refers to, among other things, persistent worry or anxiety about a number of areas that are out of proportion to the realities of the situation. In other words, an excessive and ongoing fear that bad things may happen.

Andrew Ourique
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Throughout the course, Professor Nason spoke about the two-sides of risk in every situation. I recall him referring to the concept of utility theory, which states that we tend to regret a loss more than we favor an equivalent gain. In other words, the pain we feel from losing a dollar is more than the joy we feel from gaining a dollar. He used this to explain why we are programmed to focus more on downside risk than on upside risk and, therefore, why so many people have a restrictive definition of risk which focuses exclusively on the downside.

I couldn’t help but see the similarities amongst the traps we, in the business world, fall victim to in terms of ignoring the upside risk potential of business situations, and the trap I was personally falling into as I continually focused on negative outcomes in my life.

Through therapy I learned a host of strategies to help me cope with my diagnosis and after several months of treatment, I am in a much better place both mentally and personally. But I never forgot the learnings from this course and when it came time to complete my term project, which required us to integrate all of the ideas we learned in the course to manage a situation that involves uncertainty. I decided to do my paper on pursuing my dream of becoming an independent consultant. For the longest time, I had seen this pursuit in terms of downside risk only. I wonder, if I took the time to investigate the upside risks as well. Would I have a different view on whether this path is worth pursuing?

After months of consideration and due diligence, I am happy to share that I made the decision to go out on my own and share my approach and expertise to help organizations of all sizes manage large-scale, transformational change and I have Dr. Rick Nason to thank for opening up my mind to the realm of possibilities that exist when you focus on both the positive and negative outcomes that exist in life. As Professor Nason said himself, “paradigm shifts for the good come out of the most desperate of times.”

Dr. Rick Nason: Rethinking Risk Management – Critically Examining Old Ideas and New Concepts

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“Did you just groan at the thought of opening another book on risk management?  Like election cycles, media talk about celebrity hairdos and cute cat videos trending on social media; perhaps, the least interesting thing might be another book on risk management. However, you got past the first two sentences, so possibly you believe there is something still needed in risk management thinking that is keeping your going”
Dr. Rick Nason: Rethinking Risk Management: Critically Examining Old Ideas and New Concepts
(Kindle loc 66 of 2238)

Dr. Rick Nason: Rethinking Risk Management: Critically Examining Old Ideas and New Concepts

Dr. Rick Nason: Rethinking Risk Management: Critically Examining Old Ideas and New Concepts

CEGE Connection is excited to launch Dr. Rick Nason’s latest book, Rethinking Risk Management: Critically Examining Old Ideas and New Concepts, which is available in Kindle and paperback format.   The Introduction is concise and to the point: Another Book on Risk Management!  Those words alone prompt an innate curiosity to read a few more sentences, then a page and before long readers find they are captured by Dr. Nason’s insightful discussion that challenges them to revisit their current understanding of risk management.

The book is structured as a series of questions, the first one being “What is Risk?”    The running theme throughout the book’s 150 pages is that risk management is essential and adds value to all organizations, whether public, private or not-for profit.

While “Rethinking Risk Management” is intended for senior managers, directors, risk managers, and students of risk management, I found strategies and insights that were relevant in my personal daily interactions.  We live in a world of complexity where risk is ever-present and must be understood as well as managed.

Rebecca Budd
CEGE Connection Editor & Blog Coordinator

The following excerpt is taken from Rethinking Risk Management: Critically Examining Old Ideas and New Concepts, Kindle Edition, Location 96 Location 102 Location 110 of 2238

Dr. Rick Nason

What is risk? Perhaps, the question is trivial, but in workshops I have conducted, I get a wide variety of responses, and often, a passionate debate will break out among the participants. Apparently, the answer to the simple question of “what is risk?” is not so simple. Of course, this leads to a follow-up question of what is risk management? Another simple question that proves to have a not-so-simple answer—or at least not simple when you hear managers try to explain what risk management is. The physicist Richard Feynman supposedly once claimed that if you cannot explain what you do to someone in grade six, then you do not know what you are talking about. How much of risk management can be explained to a preteenager in grade six much less the managers or even the board of directors of an organization?

It is often only by going back to first principles, or a clean sheet of paper, that one can again make things simple again, and provide the clarity that is needed to develop more productive and effective paths forward. Asking two simple questions of what risk is and what risk management is helps to start us off on that process. How often does someone in your organization question the reasoning behind a certain process? I suspect it is quite often, but they keep their questions to themselves without taking the risk of openly questioning and potentially exposing their lack of knowledge.

Perhaps, you are one of those doing the silent questioning. Generally, if someone actually does verbalize the question, rather than leaving it unspoken, there is frequently no response other than “We’ve always done it this way.” Not a very satisfying response! Progress is not based on always and unquestioningly doing things the way they have always been done. Sometimes, processes are based on assumptions that turn out to be false upon close examination. However, without questioning these assumptions or axioms, the situation will never improve, unless by some fortuitous accident, which is not a high-probability strategy. It becomes very easy to lose the plot of what the main objective is without an occasional pause to ask what the end goal is, and what the best path to get there is.