People in every corner of the globe make decisions every day that have direct and indirect ramifications of unset consequences. For some, the ripple is small. For others, well - you get my drift. How many prove to be good decisions largely relate to a person's ability to set aside their bias and respond to information with a clear mind.
The ability to do this is a craft honed by the best. Because they are the best, their decision making parameters, based on complexity and risk, are more often than not higher.
For many business leaders in the C-suite a perpetual question remains: How does one keep making good decisions, even with the pressure that comes with those decisions as they get bigger?
Many Western Australian businesses have a diverse set of interests, all with the potential to be materially impacted by global forces, from access to talent, materials, capital and an increasingly volatile geopolitical landscape that has many around the world pondering how potential conflict on the horizon could reorient the way a myriad of industries function today.
One method of seeking clarity works by leveraging the filter of diversity. In business, it often comes in the way of a Board of Directors, whose role it is to execute their fiduciary duty so that the likelihood of a poor decision is mitigated as best as possible.
But, with the world changing with increasing pace, the notion of expertise is very difficult to bottle and due to the fact no-one can stay across all the things you would hope to, good decision makers leverage a series of relationships, inside and out to help act as a radar whereby discernment is enhanced.
It's for this reason, RAAFA has invited Dr Keith Suter to Perth to keynote our inaugural Clear Skies conference on September 25. As the world has become more connected and the butterfly effect in one part of the planet is sure to manifest in change of some shape locally, we all have a role to play in leaning in to wisdom, but more so doing it collectively as a community.
In WA we have a vested interest in each other's success. And I have long been a big believer in the power of cross sector insights.
If you don't know much about Keith, he is a futurist with three PhDs. He is also the former Chairperson of the AICD Environment Committee and was responsible for raising awareness of the importance of implementing ESG measures back in 2005. For those that don't know much about RAAFA, we're an organisation with a 100-year proud history of supporting the Western Australian community.
Together, this makes for a marriage of bringing people into the tent to collaborate (and for us we have the fortune of owning a pretty big tent - aka our Club at Bull Creek, right beside our Aviation Heritage Museum). But, we also work with some pretty impressive people, Keith being but one.
RAAFA started as an organisation designed to support ex-services personnel as they transition into civilian life. Today, we have evolved to harness that caring spirit to look after a range of people, unconstrained by service history. We figure, when you are good at something, why not do more of it?
The biggest thing that has changed in our near century of operations is the world is a lot smaller. If we can't all learn together, test each other, and refine our thinking and decision making abilities, we've missed an opportunity we will likely regret. We’re all connected, whether we realise it or not.
For this reason, I'm looking forward to a packed house on September 25. Get your tickets today via Eventbrite.
