It’s official!!
The Earth has made a complete orbit around the sun and we are in a new year. And being 2025 means we are now halfway through the 2020s decade.
What a decade it’s been so far. As exciting and interesting as these times are, the numbers on the calendar also serve as a somewhat ominous reminder that time marches on. During some of my downtime over the holidays, I caught a post on Instagram that stated that 2025 is the same number of years apart from 1980 as 1935 is (e.g. 45 years).
I told my husband that knowing that makes me feel a little old, especially when you consider I was a toddler at the dawn of the ‘80s.
If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you should know that the beginning of each year, I publish my annual top resources list. While there is some overlap in the resources I list, each year’s list is unique in its own right, which is why I always recommend going back and looking at previous editions (i.e. 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018).
Before getting into this year’s list – if you do go back to those earlier editions, you should notice the shift from preventing failure by managing a list of risks to a current focus on intelligent risk-taking and decision-making in pursuit of strategic objectives, or more simply stated, ensuring the company’s success.
All of the “ERM” resources in the following list are going to take the “objective-centric” view. I’ve experienced first-hand the immediate benefits companies can realize from adopting an “objective-centric” approach, so I would be very leery of anything that takes the “risk-centric” view.
With that said, let’s dive in to the top risk and strategy resources for 2025!
Most popular blog posts from the last year…
The first section of 2025’s list mostly consists of articles published in the last year. There is no particular order in the list but rather are grouped based on subject or category. Continue reading for more…
- 10 Differences Between Traditional and Enterprise Risk Management (long-standing article updated in 2024)
- Enterprise Risk Assessment – Gathering the Information to Drive Decision-Making (updated to reflect an “objective-centric” approach)
- 8 Questions for Properly Analyzing and Prioritizing Risks to Objectives (updated to reflect an “objective-centric” approach)
- From Traditional to Strategic Risk Management – originally published by Hans Læssøe, this article is a great primer on transitioning from a risk- to objective-centric approach to ERM. Although Hans is now fully retired, you can still check out his books Prepare to Dare and Decide to Succeed.
Books I’ve read in the last year(s) or plan on reading in the year-ish ahead…
Besides one-on-one interaction, nothing has richer insights than books, at least in my opinion. As a busy consultant, mom, wife, and CEO, reading is a hard thing to fit in, but the following list of books are a few titles I would recommend for understanding the direction risk management needs to go in the year(s) ahead…a direction that emphasizes strategy, resiliency, and informed decision-making over standards, reports, heat maps, and more.
- Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters
- How to be Second: Being Second is a Destination, Not a Stepping Stone by Nathan Young and David Hartman, PhD
- Strategic Impact: A Leader’s Three-Step Framework for the Customized Vital Strategic Plan by Carol A. Poore, PhD
- Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors by Michael E. Porter
- Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
- Managing the Unexpected: Sustained Performance in a Complex World by Karl E. Weick and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe
- Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan
As always, this list is not comprehensive by any means. There are so many other resources I could list, it’s bewildering, which is why I recommend going back to the 2024 list to see the different thought leaders, websites and books that were listed.
What other resources would you recommend your fellow risk and strategy professionals be looking at in 2025?
Please feel free join the conversation on LinkedIn to share your recommendations.
I want to wish you and your company a 2025 filled with purpose and excitement! If you’re in a place where more direct help would be more valuable, please reach out to me to speak about your specific challenges and potential paths forward.
