Fieldworks Event - Fraud and Risk Mgt - Central London - 13 May 2010

The Fieldworks Marketing Team created another great night last night when they hosted an event with Peter Kaye from John Lewis talking about risk.

Now I can't say that this topic excites me as much as some and I went to the event as much with intrigue as anticipation.

However, Peter Kaye (not the comedian) was an excellent speaker, and made what could have been an incredibly dry topic, a very interesting one.

Discussing how risk management is part of business as usual in the John Lewis Partnership, his best example was that of the Volcanic Ash. His response to how Waitrose managed their supply chain was that this was something the business deal with every day. A very refreshing answer.

Now, as Peter explained, I have no doubt this business as usual state has come about through his trusted leadership, as he seems to have educated his business from top to bottom on how to deal with these issues. I don't believe this has happened overnight. But the man with a forces background was very thorough.

I loved his key phrase of Observe, Orientate, Decide and Act, or OODA as he liked to call it. We could all do more of that.

Following the excellent talk, there was plenty of opportunity to catch up with colleagues. Good to see people from projects past. All seemed to be enjoying life.