Tag: Leo Sadovy

Analytics | Risk Management
Leo Sadovy 2
A Plethora of Black Swans

I was under the impression that Black Swans were supposed to be rare. Rare enough to be effectively non-computable by standard methods. Nassim Taleb’s formulation of the Black Swan Theory is comprised of the three traits of: outlier (rarity), extreme impact, and retrospective predictability (i.e. 20/20 hindsight). I write this

Leo Sadovy 11
Plan V

Quiz time. Just to see if you learned anything from the last go around. The “V”, by the way, could stand for “volatile”, as in the 2008-09 global economic meltdown, or perhaps “volcano”, as in the 2010 eruptions of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Did you have a Plan V for the

Leo Sadovy 3
What’s a Budget for?

With the exception of the occasional James Bond movie that proves the rule, we don’t as a matter of course combine our modes of transportation into one all-purpose vehicle, and we even tend to park our cars, boats and planes in separate facilities. But when it comes to financial management,

Risk Management
Leo Sadovy 3
How Certain is that Number in the Window

My introduction to the issue of risk in business decision making came rather abruptly and rudely during what I thought was going to be another routine quarterly business review with the executive committee. My particular agenda item was to present the business case for a “lite” version of one of

Leo Sadovy 0
Strategy Frameworks

Somewhat surprisingly, we all probably know what we mean when we use strategy as an adjective, “strategic”, but manage to make a complete muddle out of the word as a noun, “strategy”. Can our tactics be strategic? I would think yes, if they are in accordance with some strategy. Can

Leo Sadovy 9
Strategy as a set of Options

The term “military intelligence” is often put forth as the epitome of an oxymoron, and while it is true that many military processes and approaches do not easily make the transition to the business world, there are several that should not be overlooked, intelligence being one of the most significant.

Leo Sadovy 2
Pick one from each column: A CFO's post-conference to-do list

When I attend a conference as a participant, one constructive practice I have acquired is to, immediately after completing the post-conference evaluation form, create my own personal “take away” worksheet. Nothing complicated, just two columns which can be labeled left/right, debit/credit, sooner/later, or plain/peanut. Don’t attempt to create this worksheet