What is risk management oversight?

Following the Risk Management Training in Minneapolis, MN (a pre-conference workshop to the AORE conference), I had the chance to ask Risk Management Training instructor Missy White how she defined and explained the term risk management oversight. Here is what she said:

"Risk management oversight means consideration of risks from both a systematic and systemic point of view.

Systematic means a crisply linear, cause and effect analysis, which of course is vital. That’s how we recognize that shoulder injury data compiled on river courses reveals the need for better technique instruction on bracing.

A systemic viewpoint recognizes that most aspects of an organization are inherently related, and that no decision can be made in a vacuum. For instance, a decision to spend  money for communication devices affects scholarship money for diversity. Holding to a systemic point of view requires clarity of mission as well as rigorous evaluation of all decisions against the whole landscape of an organization."

Missy White is a senior NOLS instructor, having worked 230+ weeks in the field since 1987. With a Masters in Organizational Development, White has worked numerous Instructor Courses and is an avid practitioner of risk management and leadership development for individuals and organizations.

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Stove Effeciency in the Field

We all know that a poor stove set-up wastes fuel, and a using additional tools, like a pot parka, saves fuel beyond a “normal good set-up.” But how much does fuel consumption differ with stove set-up?


Maximizing Stove Efficiency in the Field from NOLS on Vimeo.

We put it to the test by testing three Whisperlite stoves with three different treatments. We controlled as many variables as we could by testing the same stove under each of the three treatments, always using the same amount of fuel, always pumping the stove the same amount, always heating 2 liters of water, and always starting with water of the same temperature. Here’s what we found.

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Of Leadership and Weather....

So, I’m walking down the hall the other day into the nerve center of NOLS Professional Training. You must realize that at NOLS Headquarters each deptartment has its own identity and sense of flair. In NOLS Pro it’s along the lines of  “do excellent work, but have a blast doing it.” Well, on this particular day, I noticed on the whiteboard the quote “failure is not an option” attributed to Gene Kranz of the Apollo 13 mission. When I asked about it, I was informed that the department has adopted it as a motto in response to the current economic situation facing our country and marketplace. I smiled, thinking to myself what a classic NOLS response that was.

One of the specific leadership skills we teach at NOLS is tolerance for adversity and uncertainty.  By nature as an organization we excel at this skill. We have had ample opportunity to master it while spending years in the field suffering through storms and making navigational decisions without full clarity of the environment. So when the economy suddenly pulls a u-turn, we hunker down, tolerate the uncomfortable, take stock, and acquire a Zen-like patience for the unknown.  NOLS is an organization that flourishes during crisis and challenge.  It almost seems odd, but we are known for our ability to successfully put ourselves on teams and expeditions in the harshest environments, in the remotest locations on Earth, and accomplish great things. This is because we have a high capacity for the skill of tolerance for adversity and uncertainty.

Crazy circumstances are always going to show up in our professional and personal lives–much like weather does on NOLS courses. The skill of practicing tolerance for adversity and uncertainty is crucial to navigating the challenges. Leaders and organizations that practice this skill will actually flourish.  “Weather” becomes indistinguishable as good or bad, it just represents a changing environment while en route to accomplishing our goals. 

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WMI Curriculum Update

Hydration is a hot topic around this time of year, and with good reason. In recent years, the gear market has become saturated (pardon the pun) with so many different hydration systems and supplements that it can be hard to make the right choices.

                

Am I drinking enough? Too much? What about temperature? Wilderness Medicine Institute Curriculum Director Tod Schimelpfenig explores these questions and others in WMI's Curriculum Updates.

The Wilderness Medicine Institute is a division of NOLS. Focusing on Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder and Wilderness EMT classes, WMI helps keep NOLS at the cutting edge of wilderness expedition education.

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NOLS Learns to Lighten Up

Representatives Demetri Coupounas (Coup) from GoLite and Ryan Jordan from BackpackingLight Magazine arrived at NOLS headquarters last week to display some of their favorite gear and to address questions from a captivated audience. We saw backpacks, sleeping bags, stoves and more that could all be tossed around like beanbags they were so light! We left the presentation itching to run into the mountains and test it out ourselves.

However, NOLS instructors at both the Southwest and the Rocky Mountain branches actually got to do the field-testing on three-day seminars with Coup and Ryan. The seminar gave instructors the opportunity to experiment with the durability and comfort level afforded by the new gear, and while the jury is still out on which items could become new NOLS standards, the potential for lighter packs has everyone buzzing!

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