Friday, August 19, 2005
Risk Management Made Simple
We were on holiday in a foreign land. At this particular instant, I was alone at this place called Little Venice in London (not in Italy) and I was taking photograph of the lovely Jason Canal. An old lady walked past. We smiled at each other and mentioned that the weather was fine. Knowing that I was a tourist, she then insisted that she would take a picture of me with the lovely canal as background using my camera. I knew it was pointless as I noticed her hands were trembling a bit. Nevertheless, I did not want to disappoint her for her very generous offer of service. I handed over the camera to her and happily posted for her. This was a digital camera and as I expected, the photo turned out to be very poor. Nevertheless, I thanked her for a photo well taken. She was happy.
Two week later, we were in Rome. At the Trevi Fountain, a young man was seated intimately with a young girl. The place was crowded. As we were near the fountain taking a photo, the young man immediately offer his service to take a picture of my wife and me using my camera. I politely refused telling him that I have taken many photos and I have enough. At the Roman Coliseum, we received the same offer from a middle-aged man pushing baby pram. The baby in the pram looked more like a doll than a baby.
Again, I declined politely with the same reason.
So why I handed over my camera for an old lady who could not even take a proper photo while I refused services from the more competent younger persons? The reason is obvious. It is my risk management at work. In the two later incidents, it was very easy for any of them to run away with my camera and disappear into the crowd. As for the old lady, I first thought at least I could run faster than her. Though it turned out that she was really nice.
Two week later, we were in Rome. At the Trevi Fountain, a young man was seated intimately with a young girl. The place was crowded. As we were near the fountain taking a photo, the young man immediately offer his service to take a picture of my wife and me using my camera. I politely refused telling him that I have taken many photos and I have enough. At the Roman Coliseum, we received the same offer from a middle-aged man pushing baby pram. The baby in the pram looked more like a doll than a baby.
Again, I declined politely with the same reason.
So why I handed over my camera for an old lady who could not even take a proper photo while I refused services from the more competent younger persons? The reason is obvious. It is my risk management at work. In the two later incidents, it was very easy for any of them to run away with my camera and disappear into the crowd. As for the old lady, I first thought at least I could run faster than her. Though it turned out that she was really nice.
