You know your business.
We know Risk.
Enterprise, Risk & Resilience
What We Do
We assess, design, and build action plans for the implementation and/or improvement of risk and resilience programs.
Our goal is to contribute to the agile operation of every entity we encounter so that they may grow, evolve and fulfill their stated purpose.
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We love to work at the design phase to ensure programs are built to suit the organization at its current level of maturity, but with flex and scalability to grow and mature over time.
We offer a fresh perspective in assessing existing programs for efficiency, effectiveness, and value-add contribution to the organization's larger operation and strategic direction.
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We will meet you at any stage you're at to help you take your program to the next level.
How we engage:​
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Designing new program frameworks to meet operational & compliance needs
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Assessing existing programs for efficiency, effectiveness, and value
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Developing action plans and provide support for change implementation
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Supporting training and development with customized education workshops
Why We Do It
It’s hard. It’s harder than it should be.
If you’re here, then you are likely grappling with a problem that looks like one of these – we guarantee that you’re not alone.
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"We don’t think about risk and resilience, no one understands what it should look like or if it’s worth the time, energy and resource to build."
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"We tried connecting our ERM program to strategic planning, but nothing meshes, it’s like apples and oranges."
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"Our governance structure is broken – there is so much confusion about who is responsible for what."
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"We can’t get any meaningful metrics out of our ERM system to support strategic decisions."
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The usual Problem?
There is no mechanism for prioritizing risks that threaten the purpose, growth, and survival of the organization.
The primary roadblock encountered with implementing risk and resilience programs is the understanding that all risk must be recognized, but not all risk impacts strategy. T
This matters because if we cannot define strategic priorities around purpose, growth and evolution, it will be impossible to identify the risks that pose the greatest threat to the organization.
We have the solution.
We will teach you how to apply it in any entity in any environment regardless of size, complexity or
level of maturity.
First, we must understand that every organization requires a contributory purpose, intentionality around the growth of the organization and its people, and an adaptive capability to support long-term evolution and survival.
Once understood, then we define where purpose, growth and survival converge (what we call the vital juncture or vitju for short) because that is where we reveal the true mission-critical (the live or die) functions and activities of the organization.
These mission-critical elements now become the backbone for prioritizing how we deal with risk, providing a mechanism for ensuring that the risks most impactful to strategy get to the top.
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This is our secret sauce. It works and it works every time.
Erin’s training and onsite workshop strengths are her passion to link core strategy to risk and creating relevant risk management systems. Our board and senior management team appreciated her strong understanding of the stakeholders relating to family companies, communities and First Nations businesses. We look forward to our continued work with Erin and Black Fox Strategy.”
~ Grant Fast, Business Improvement Manager at Sinclar Group Forest Products Ltd.
How We Deliver Better Outcomes
We have deep roots in risk and resilience planning. We have seen the countless ways that risk and resilience planning go sideways, we understand why it happens, and we know how to get it back on track.
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We don’t “off the shelf” anything. We work hard to customize every aspect of our projects, with actionable outcomes and clear direction that makes sense to you.
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Every tool and system has value – we will work with you to optimize whatever you already have in place to create synergy without reinventing the wheel.
We believe in action-oriented outcomes, so you get not only our recommendations, but a prioritized action plan to help you take the next step.
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You need good return on your investment, so we will show you how to define and measure real success on the project.
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We expect participation. Nothing we do will work without your involvement so we will all be rolling up our sleeves together.
Our Philosophy and Approach
Our philosophy is rooted in the belief that long-term organizational success lies in a balanced approach to purpose, growth and evolution that prioritizes its time, energy and resources on the vitju – the vital juncture where purpose, growth and evolution converge. This simplified approach brings clarity and focus to the planning effort, and creates the necessary link for best practice integration of strategy, risk and resilience capabilities.
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We invite you to read more about Essential Strategy and its creator, Erin Sedor.
