What if you could learn how to expect the unexpected? In business, like in life, foresight is crucial for avoiding pitfalls and disaster – and yet it’s something we spend nearly no time developing. Retired four-star general Stan McChrystal has lived a life associated with the deadly risks of combat; he has been forced to analyze and prepare for situations he didn’t even know were possible. As a business consultant, he has seen how hundreds of individuals and organizations – too often and to great cost – fail to mitigate risk. Why? Because they focus on the probability of something happening instead of the interface through which any and all risks can be managed. In A User’s Guide , McChrystal presents a new system of responding to risk. He lays out ten dimensions of control which we can adjust at any given time, no matter the narrative, bias, action, timing, adaptability, communication, technology, diversity, structure and leadership. Drawing on compelling examples ranging from military history to the business world, and offering infinitely practical exercises to improve preparedness, McChrystal illustrates how these ten factors are almost always in effect – and how, by considering them constantly, individuals and organizations can exert mastery over every conceivable sort of risk that they might face. We may not be able to see into the future, but Risk gives us a framework for improving our resistance and building a strong defense against what we know — and what we don’t.
