Inside My Canoehead

Send us a textI've written at length about the need to incorporate all sectors of society in disaster response and recovery operations. For each significant event, there are four unique and often uncoordinated responses: the not for profit (NFP) industry ramping up services for their clients, the private sector enacting continuity operations and extending support to their network, the residents helping each other and finally, the formal public sector incident response and management operations. One is not in command and control, each have stakeholders and they are working diligently to mitigate the harm and return to pre-event operations with the shortest delay. There are a myriad of publications in academia and grey literature that speak to the need for coordination, formal training on how to execute a whole of community effort, but little cooperation across the government to population power divide. This is why my profound reaction when my students presented the following idea, an economic recovery task force (ERTF).An ERTF is not a recovery mechanism at heart, it is a permanent round table where the sectors of society contemplate, coordinate and cooperate on how the economic engine of a city would respond to an event, recover and return to normalcy. This is an effort that brings together the private sector, NFP and municipal government to map out what recovery would look like, specific, focussed - with the intent to create an environment where business resumed at the earliest opportunity. We know that economic activity provides income, allows society to return to normalcy and the loss of access to normal resources is an impediment for residents. If a strategy existed that demonstrated the preparedness of the economic engine for disasters, then confidence rises, investment gains traction and a sense of security and prosperity is maintained.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textAccording to Global Velocity, in the USA there are 59 million workers in the freelance or gig economy, earning over 500 million, with an estimated 50% of American workers completing at least one external independent contracting assignment this year. While grounded in the transportation industry, the emergence of consultants, IT, AI curators and a host of independent contractors in professional industries - trades, healthcare expanding, there is a significant shift underway in the global workforce. Most entrepreneurs, 70% in recent surveys, do so by choice, not socio-economic need, mainly grounded in a desire to reap the full rewards of their work, to set their own work-life balance and to carve an independent piece from the global pie. In essence, the model of working for a company, generating wealth for the stock holders is now a short term learning evolution, vice a formative career. Individuals are entering the corporate workforce to learn the industry and quickly departing on collective or independent ventures, leading to a host of online offerings that once were the purview of corporations. This is the emerging economic model.You can hire an MBA graduate, equivalent to western schools, for $10 per hour from India, or a marketing expert with a masters degree from Thailand for $15 a day. Why would you hire a recent graduate from Harvard or Yale on a full time salary with expensive benefits when you can outsource a specific niche requirement to an expert with equivalent skills for a fraction of the cost? Additional risk, potentially, but is that risk equivalent to the savings of contract work?These chaotic times, the levels of uncertainty in the markets and fears of recessions, are pushing the workforce to embrace responsibility for their outcomes. While there remains calls for action to counter this movement to the gig economy, often in posts from individuals who are following a 1999 idea of sending in resumes and expecting to land interviews, eventually they understand that the system is not failing them, they're just pursuing a strategy for a different economy. While in some industries there remains growth in salaried employment, that is becoming an exception outside public sector positions. In some western locations, precarious work is the fastest growing part of the economy. Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textResilience is intentional and requires commitment. We often pursue ideas and strategies that are one and done. I'll put in the effort, achieve the standard and we're all good, nothing else to do. Being ready for the unknown, embracing uncertainty and navigating the unexpected is a skill set, one that requires regular maintenance and sharpening. Resilience is likely one of the most influential skills you can adopt, it encompasses your ability to maintain order in chaos, to lead those for whom you're responsible, to thrive when others are flailing in the dark. We've outlined your four steps to resilience over the course of this series, on this written medium, as well as on the audio versions on the podcast, Inside My Canoehead, and finally on a video feed on our YouTube channel. Free, because equipping society with the skills to be more resilient in the face of current and future harm is a public good. To expand on resilience, to move skills to the collective, requires additional effort. There are four research based strategies to build your resilience through embracing the world around you, and taking a deeper dive into some of the concepts introduced over the past four steps. The roadmap to resilience doesn't have an end, it is a pathway you choose to follow, one that mirrors your life. So embrace the opportunities offered, dive into the deep end and believe in yourself, for there is a myriad of opportunities for health, wealth and happiness in the chaos, throughout these uncertain times. The choice is yours, choose wisely.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textAnthropological and sociological research has reasonably defined the spheres of influence in your world, a concept design, sometimes referred to as spatial. In simplest terms, it is a division of interests, those that motivate us and classify arenas in which we operate. While never homogenous, the literature reasonably agrees that political, economic, cultural, familial and natural describe the portions of a human existence in this cosmos. Everything that happens does so within one of these spheres, often occupying one or more, but we can trace events to origins within these five. We posit that everything in this world is a function of someone else's actions within one or more of the spheres, and to echo step two, your decision is how you choose to respond. You, nor I, can make someone say, believe or act upon something, but we have absolute control over both the reaction and the surveillance. In military parlance, reconnaissance is the function of trying to ascertain the intent of someone before they undertake a decision, so as to counter that before they begin or to ready for the coming events. Risk analysis is reconnaissance for your life, simply put, understanding the things that may happen, by examining the world around you, enables you to create an accurate assessment of the threat profile where you operate - for you, the family, community, business and your social networks.Zero risk is illogical and not possible, the probability of many events occurring rapidly approaches nil, but never reaches it. The goal of a risk assessment is to first identify all that could occur, classify it and select those that present the highest threat. Create a plan to counter and you'll have situated the estimate as the military would say, doing what is possible within a world of chaotic uncertainty. There is no perfect solution, risks will be misidentified, classified incorrectly, leading to unintended outcomes. The intent is to mitigate, to limit the extent to which you and those for whom you're responsible are exposed to uncomfortable stress and potential harm.As each individual, family, community or business will have differentiating considerations, this guide is created as a series of signposts, some will be bright and important to you, others will be dim and distant. Examining each of the five spheres of influence and asking the simple question, “what threats exist in this arena that if realized could cause harm to my interests”, then “when that is realized, does it create low, moderate or extreme levels of risk?”. Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textFurther research grounds that even with a series of hazards, in some areas communities face a host of differentiating risks, there are limitations to the choices at hand. When drilled to the simplest form, humans have only two distinct choices, shelter in place or evacuate. Irrespective of the hazard or impact, the resulting decision for communities is what to do, limited to a binary choice. Our research has led to the conclusion that if we educate the public on what they can do, not why they may have to do something, then we have a greater probability of behavioural adoption, meaning that residents are ready to conduct both, with the catalyst being accurate and timely information from a trusted source.As such, Preparedness Labs Incorporated, developed the trifecta of preparedness plans, to include shelter in place and evacuation - as well as the one additional event frequently highlighted in our research as impactful and the source of worry - loss of income. Hence, the three plans are presented, based upon research, as the strategies necessary to build resilience, to adopt the preparedness measures required to be capable of decision making and executing a bespoke plan to shelter in place, evacuate or mitigate income loss.Shelter in Place. Colloquially referred to as bugging-in, the concept is simple. You plan to provide for your family throughout an emergency without requiring external assistance from government. Specifically, our research concludes that this means providing for the animalistic (we are animals in the environment) requirements (food, water, shelter, health, safety & security), for all those for whom you are responsible (family is often multi-generational and multi-location) for a timeline you feel comfortable, relying only on social connections and community for support. Evacuation. Rare, with some literature referring to it as the most dangerous situation for a family, in relation to the immediate and ongoing potential disruption to normal lives. Research into successful evacuation outcomes informs that families who did evacuate under a prepared plan to a pre-established family or friend's residence had lower degrees of anxiety or stress and significantly reduced financial burden. This was due to a limited need to expend additional funds for shelter and per diem, as well as the calm and comfort of private accommodation. There was no correlation with successful insurance claims and short term accommodations, other than an increased access to Wifi or cell coverage, privacy and supporting IT systems to conduct the claim process. Loss of Income. Everyone leaves their current employment, you either die, quit, are fired or retire. Most hope that they will separate on their terms, at a time of their choosing, though history and the current economic climate might dictate otherwise. Survey responses in the USA have shown that immediate loss of income is rated equally to a total loss of a home, in impact to mental, financial and family health. We consider a loss of the primary source of revenue for a family to be equally impactful as an evacuation and loss. Evidence shows that individuals who possess a pivot strategy, a process to quickly replace the lost income with an alternate employment stream are more likely to be successful. Data from the recent pandemic demonstrates that a number of individuals were able to replace their lost income, during an emergency, due to a pre-existing plan. Whether that be the same profession in a new industry, commoditizing a skill set, or beginning a new career in a field with existing demand, a strategy to Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textSeldom do people make decisions in isolation, they seek information, knowledge and opinion of trusted sources to inform what their options. We're learning that counter to the neo-classical economic thought, humans make decisions on emotion and later use logic to justify it. We used to believe that decisions were made at the margins, incremental and always with our own best interest at heart. We are wildly difficult to predict. The roadmap's part one informed that society functions on the back of 10 sectors of critical infrastructure (CI), that emergency management (EM) as a public function intends to support society during disruptions and that a preparedness gap exists between hazard induced needs and the government's capacity / capability. Embracing these ideas is key to moving along the pathway to resilience, followed in this part by the acceptance of responsibility for outcomes and ourselves. We posit that once responsibility has been adopted and improvement is underway, we can consider the types of preparedness we choose to adopt. First, as argued by the stoics and modern philosophers, there is little we actually control, but that is precisely enough. We have absolute control over two areas, what we say and do. Everything else that occurs in the world is a function of what others say and do, over which we have nominal influence, but management of how we choose to respond. This frame is the key to successful preparedness, we're not trying to change the world, bring in new policies or governance systems, the goal is to become more prepared to navigate that which we do not control, through controlling what we can. Personal responsibility for your outcomes means you acknowledge that whether or not external assistance may exist, it is ultimately you who are responsible for how your life proceeds. Win or lose, it is your fault. This is not an argument for isolationism, far from it as we will address in parts 4 and 5, but that you first must accept that if you are to lead through chaos, you must first accept the leadership role. If you choose to not assume command and control of your life, then you are a dependent of someone else - family, community or the government. You will be counting on an external force to provide for your basic needs when calamity strikes, and if they fail to do so, you will suffer. The choice is binary, looking at the incredible person in the mirror, are you willing to lead your life, by accepting responsibility for your outcomes? If the answer is yes, listen to this episode.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textOur intent in this five part series is to demystify the idea of resilience, to ground it in the philosophy of preparedness and to provide the operationalization of research. Everything that follows is based upon defendable data sources, evidence to support a recommended pathway, to ensure that you receive only what we “know” to be helpful. A caveat first - science is imperfect. It received a bloody nose during the pandemic, rightfully so. Science is the expression of knowledge as we understand it today, based upon the research - results of experimentation, leveraging our best mathematical models to provide reasonable certainty. Science is never settled, those who make such statements are not scientists, but advocates. What we understand about the physical world (natural sciences) and the human species (social sciences) remains changing, as it should, as we test new hypothesis, challenging paradigmatic norms. This series is our recipe to seize control of your life, to insulate your family / business against the effects of events you cannot control and to the greatest extent possible, reach your goals. No system is foolproof, nor can they plan for all contingencies. We've examined thirty years of data, conducted our own research to create this roadmap. We are imperfect as well, but we believe providing you non-apocalyptic evidence-based preparedness education, in the form of a roadmap to resilience, is a noble cause. We will provide these five steps in this format, with an accompanied audio episode on our podcast, Inside My Canoehead, as well as a visual representation on our YouTube channel. This is our company's, Preparedness Labs Incorporated, offering to the world, free of charge. We simply ask you to share and invest your time and effort. No money is required on the road to resilience, there are no economic barriers to preparedness, they are simply creations of the state.Our goal for this roadmap is that you'll learn to navigate shocks that cause the loss of access to one or more sectors of CI, within your own resources. Disasters are dealt with through step 3 - your trifecta of preparedness plans. Until then, we concentrate on you accepting this as the frame for society, that emergencies occur when you need to navigate loss of access to CI, and that this will look different for every human, family, community and neighbourhood. There is no one size fits all, your circumstances are sufficiently unique that within a small group of individuals, the needs will vary greatly, as will the mitigation strategies.Framing resilience as a personal skill, a capability born from understanding the world around us, how it function and fails, as well as they public systems designed to assist, sets the condition for step two, responsibility for the world around us.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textFraming our situation is important, because the lens we choose to use when examining the world around us influences what we see, the actions we believe are helpful and the outcomes we seek. Ask an academic about the choice of theoretical frameworks and you'll need copious amounts of caffeine to survive the lecture. Prominent, exceptionally important, yet rarely discussed.Leaders make decisions, they examine the information or data, seek guidance or advice, but in the end are tasked with committing their organizations to a path. That pathway, when grounded in strategy thinking has a higher degree of resilience, because the leader is managing issues, not finding solutions.Solutions are the endgame for problems that are 100% within the control of management. Personnel, resources, processes, policies and procedures are designed to address known problems, to offer solutions to end the harm. Solution seekers require authority and control, which is why they can only be successful when looking inward. To look to the environment, over which we have exceptionally little influence, requires a different lens, that of managing issues vice finding solutions. When we consider the myriad of problems, existential for some, the aim is not to invest finite resources in trying to solve a problem within another organization, but leading our teams through the issue presented by the external problem. Issue management is the concept of leveraging the resources over which we have control, to find the least disruptive and most helpful pathway for our team. I cannot control the decision of the US Federal government to change the funding allocations related to FEMA. That is a problem in another organization over which I have little influence. The intelligent response is to understand how I navigate the issue presented by the change in funding models. This reaction is rare, when we examine the proliferation of articles and posts on LinkedIn, almost to an exception, they are demanding an outcome they cannot control, bemoaning the change - but few offer ideas on mitigating loss, other than simply demanding someone else provides the resources. Change is here, it really is inconsequential whether you agree or not, but as a leader in your organization, how will you leverage your assets to manage the issue?Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textWe have seen a notable and systemic shift in the role of individualism in Canada, the emergence of a default assumption that the correct and appropriate response to a collective issue is government intervention. That may be in the form of access to financial resources, programatic offerings or a new set of policy interventions in society. This set the stage for the pandemic, the arrival of the virus in Canada in November 2019 and the declaration of a pandemic in March 2020, which led many governments to enact a series of interventions in our free society, with the intent of mitigating the spread of the virus. We all remember the catch phrases, “two weeks to flatten the curve”, “six feet of separation” and others. The majority of the population were caught off guard, did not see a pandemic with the associated restrictive covenants as part of 2020, simply did not have a strategy to counter a significant exogenous shock. The rapid and immediate call for government intervention into rescuing the population, principally replacing lost income, led me to ponder a simple, but powerful question: why were people choosing to live a life so close to the line that they would need government money to cover their bills within a few months of losing their income?The podcast, Inside My Canoehead, was my response to that question, to explore why the population at large was so unprepared for a shock, why the government intervention was necessary and what were the drivers behind a society that was so ill positioned to navigate such an event. The government had been issuing preparedness messaging for decades, financial gurus have been arguing for emergency funds for rainy days and health practitioners were advocating for caring for our mental health. The solutions were there, but the population simply chose not to listen.It has been a pleasure to provide non-apocalyptic, evidence-based preparedness education for free, that is our mission at Preparedness Labs Incorporated, to be Canada's source for rational and research based strategies to navigate exogenous shocks. So I raise a glass to all that made the past five years possible - my incredible wife, kids, confidants, Tina in Germany and a list of believers that convinced me to continue the message, to climb upon the soapbox in the public square and be unapologetically me. So I did and here I am. Pro Patria.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textFirst, a sincere thank you for the support over the past half decade, we've been a stalwart voice in the pandemic, offering evidence-based strategies to protect your family from the personal and economic harm. Our Season 13 was grounded in providing that guidance and speaking to a number of key notable figures. Season 14 begins with the 5th year anniversary episode, followed by the offering of our premiere and now free, 4 step 8-hour roadmap to resilience. The only evidence-based preparedness education designed to support you and your family on the journey to living your life, protected from exogenous shocks.Our commitment to you is this audio version, a written substack and a YouTube channel designed to offer free, non-apocalyptic evidence-based preparedness education.So consume via the medium you prefer, we believe your family is worth it.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textThis month I had the honour of visiting northern Ontario, while devoid of mountains and lighthouses, it has a unique beauty, a draw that mesmerizes the mind. A combination of the boreal forest and the Canadian Shield, the landscape is an endless assortment of 1000s of lakes, rivers, small towns and a connectedness to both the people and the land. A sense of place, whether here by chance or choice, everyone belonged, this was their space, which they opened with smiles and a flurry of stories for us city folk. Officially, I was there to speak, but my mission was to learn, to understand the challenges, obstacles, barriers and limitations of conducting preparedness, response and recovery operations in rural Canada. While I understood the principles, as a researcher there is nothing that replaces or replicates qualitative projects. The opportunity to listen to those who execute the function you're interested in, who despite the intentional policy restrictions, continue to move ideas forward.The first lesson understood was that the policy analysts who craft governance documents in capital cities demonstrate a significant lack of understanding as to the conditions present outside their bubble. The practitioners in rural Ontario are cognizant of the requirements and regulations, often quoting them verbatim, but they follow that with a litany of shortfalls in the legislation. Whether that be tasks assigned without resources provided, staffing minimums that exceed capacity in rural governance and reporting relationships that are counterproductive and illogical. Let's be blunt, I heard these challenges from provincial employees within Emergency Management Ontario and the Ministry of Natural Resources, not simply from the general public. These are the public servants tasked with executing responsibilities in rural areas under a regulatory framework and administrative systems that are not fit for purpose. The brilliance of this, lost on those buried in paperwork in Toronto, is that they have the solution, they know the amendments required and organizational re-structuring that will lead to better post event outcomes - but they lament the repetitious cycle of report, offer guidance and be ignored. This is not my ego landing in a new city, professing to possess the solutions to their problems, the omnipotent professor and entrepreneur. No, the three days were a continuous feed of incredible ideas, all grassroots, that would evaluate the game, improve the deliverability of emergency management services to the public. Other than my presentation and a few side conversations where I bounced my ideas off practitioners - and often quickly understood my ignorance - this was a mission in listening, watching and understanding the experience of those in the north. Separate and distinct from the urban centres, these communities were resolute and steadfast.Brilliant people doing amazing things with scant resources. Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textTariffs, elections, wars and a host of other calamities lead many into learned helplessness, the idea that there is little within your control to protect against and ameliorate the effects of disasters.That is incorrect, you have the power of community, the strength embedded in the social capital - human relationships - across the business, public and private sectors of your community. All the necessary resources to manage through and recovery from a disaster exist where you live, they simply need to be coordinated. This is that process, the overview of how to create a resilient community. Someone simply needs to be the champion - is that you?Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textMike Tyson was correct, we all have a plan, but few are ready for a right cross. Welcome to 2025, if you're not persuaded by now that this decade is disruptive and volatile, I'm not sure what would help. The foundation of preparedness is that it is up to you to strategize your life and then plan for the uncertain but likely chaotic event that is just around the corner.We all need to have a trifecta of preparedness plans, insulated with insurance and a broad understanding of the political, economic, natural and cultural external influences that will continue to throw speed bumps and storms in our path.Canada is headed to the polls. Irrespective of your political stripe, you need to be ready to live under a majority government from a party you disagree with, to understand their policies and plan. In a democracy you get a say, not the final say.You must be ready and be ahead of the curve, are you?Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textThese are challenging times, we are facing an ever-increasing frequency of dramatic alternations to the international order, which have downstream influences on our lives. There seems little we control and therefore are doomed to be victims.A counter to that is to understand that we do have options, there is a methodology to find certainty and lower anxiety in these chaotic times. In this episode, we discuss the ideas of first understanding that there is little in your control and that we must accept decisions that are beyond our control.We do that by first determining what it is that keeps us up at night, what events if they occur would be impactful. We then find solutions to these outcomes, usually in alternate sources of income, different locations where we may live and ideas that reduce the potential impact of an external decision. When you have a strategy to mitigate the effects of government policy imposed on you and your business, you have less stress. With less anxiety you can focus on your dreams, your goals.I often refer to the analogy of a simple question: "why do you swing your legs out of bed in the morning, what is your goal or purpose?". Every successful person has a plan, a roadmap they're following to reach a goal that is important to them, irrespective of the actions of others. That's the key, you build a robust preparedness strategy to allow you to pursue your goals. So when a populist international leader imposes sanctions or tariffs on your industry causing a direct impact on your income, you're ready. You have a plan, a strategy, and that allows you to chase your dreams and sleep soundly at night.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textWe exist in a dependant culture, one where we collectively expect and believe there is an entitlement to public sector support in times of disaster. We fund governments through taxation and the social contract dictates that services are afforded to the public in support of continued societal operations. There is much debate over the current state of public sector disaster organizations, with many voices calling for fundamental changes, myself included.The public sector is limited to the resources provided through taxation, which in many localities is marginal at best. If EM is responsible for the allocation of scarce resources and it only has authority over the limited capital available within the local system, then accessing the greater community capital as potential resources in an emergency would be ideal. The challenge has been the how and often it has materialized in requests for services while in-event, based upon lists of names and companies that might - and I mean might - be verified annually. Relationships, built on trust, are the foundation for social capital and facilitate the subsequent flow of other capitals in times of peace and chaos. Establishing positive meaningful connections with the wider community is necessary to facilitate access to their capital. This cannot be done after the event occurs.The resources to ameliorate suffering and loss, to rebuild society at all but the extreme financial capital levels are likely resident in the affected region. To leverage this is to engage, to build formal relationships with the served community, to understand the resources embedded in the networks, to build trust with the possessors of capital - so that when the balloon goes up, a coordinated response operation occurs, with all four sectors assisting. The public sector has a mandated responsibility for EM, but it cannot be successful without the cooperation - not compliance - of the all societal sectors: private enterprise, not for profit organizations and the residents. So no, we don't need new organizations, we need local engagement and partnerships, to build community.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textThere are no shortage of diatribes online about the state of global leadership, whether your guy is making the necessary realignments long called for but never enacted, or someone left the baboon door open at the zoo, and apologies to the baboons, this is a chaotic time for the global order. While expected in the 2020s, this is even more abrupt than some of the great thinkers imagined. Whether you're examining this situation through the lens of a family, community, nation, corporation, not for profit or an entrepreneur, this is impacting how you intent to run your life, all aspects. A wonderful time to remind ourselves of the stoic philosophy on dichotomy of control. The idea that everything falls within one of two categories, things that are within your influence to change and that which is not. What we're experiencing online is the expected and justified expression of emotions, ideas, thoughts and beliefs. I encourage everyone to be expressive, it's cathartic, and to a large minority, very fun. So plow on, enjoy, scream, decry unjust decisions. However, to be successful in the next 8 years, you'll need to separate the two arenas.Protesting actions you deem to be against your values is fine, arguing for something different is a right, where it becomes a disorder is when it drives your decisions, when you allow the decisions and actions of others to determine your state of mind. The solution is found in the creation of a risk mitigated life, one where you understand the world in which you live, embrace all it has to offer and to operate within the rules imposed. Bold decisions and being risk adverse are not mutually exclusive. You can choose to design a life that is insulated to the greatest extent possible, from political and economic decisions that are beyond your control, that permits - even encourages you, to seize the day, to jump into the chaos and abyss. Those who see opportunity in the chaos and decide to embrace the uncertainty with an innovative strategy will be case studies in 2032 on how to win when others are angry and profoundly emotionally befuddled.The question for you is how you choose to embrace the world as it is presented. You are responsible for your outcomes, success in these chaotic times is within your grasp, should you choose to move beyond the emotional uncomfortableness and embrace chaos. Good luck.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textIf we accept that the 2020s is our turn at the expected global organizational shift, then we might benefit from considering what we would like to see emerge. While we as individuals have little effect on national outcomes and international order, we can foster support for those who may be in unique positions. At each cycle in history, notable figures emerged, individuals with a position, a place from which to pontificate on the possible. To offer to the generational shift a view on what the world could be, what the opportunities are and the necessary sacrifices to see them materialize. A vision, a call to action, a national mission to undertake, to build the society we see as desirable and within the constraints of the international environment.We have not seen leadership, the decisive call to action from a charismatic figure in many decades. We have voted for and received successive governments who argued for incrementalism, often a version of aggressive incrementalism, but policy frameworks that would make a neo-classical economists smile. Across the political spectrum, from left to right and from top to bottom - yes, politics is a 4 quadrant entity, not a linear model, we've found voices that move the society in a direction we support, slightly, with moderate changes. Often announced with bellicose authority, quintessential catch phrases and a host of marketing slogans, but since the Bretton Woods agreement, even through the end of the Cold War and the short experiment with globalization, the voices were bold, the changes much less impactful. This extends to not just the international order, but national, sub-national and municipal governments, to agencies and departments. Ministries of the Crown or Secretaries in Republics have all had a change to enact meaningful, structural change to create a different society. While each iteration intends to create a more prosperous civilization, they do so within their own ideology and as we regularly change the flavour of our governments, we often see a two steps forward, one step back, not really in any coordinated direction result. As my uncle would say, a discombobulation. That has been the totality of our outcomes in the past generational block, an incremental disorganized advancement towards a destination we have yet to codify, done so with the loudest of celebrations.Can we do better? Have a listenSupport the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textI've written at length over the past few months about the political and economic crises that looms over the world, the jaxapositioning of nations to find their place in the new world order and the likely impacts on populations. This polycrisis is longitudinal, will continue until 2032 and has many more hands to play, which makes it that much more difficult to predict the next moves or to adjust your personal strategy. While there are unknown disruptions around the corner and some will be novel, some will be repetitious, the foundational truth remains, we are in control of very little and that is perfect. Cue the role of preparedness.That plan, created for any unit of measure, is the secret weapon for 2025. We need to, without question, understand that each of us are exposed to some common influences but that at the smaller units of measure, the discrepancies increase. Few family risk profiles will look the same, necessitating a different strategy, but all existing in the same world. This is the role of community, to foster these discussions, to support everyone on their journey to finding a roadmap to success. We're all on different lanes of the same highway, together we can win the day, periodically supporting those who need assistance. Each unit of measure needs a strategy, to navigate the current and future series of exogenous shocks from all five of the spheres of influence - political, economic, cultural, natural and familial. The exercise is one of time and effort, consideration and thinking. It is free, requires no commitment of financial resources, but the time to consider risks, codifying severity, assessing those that need amelioration and in doing so, create that roadmap to adopting preparedness, to be ready for come what may.This is the preparedness message for 2025, to accept the environment you're in, to understand it and the influence it has upon your family and write a strategy to navigate disruptions that are beyond your control, as a community, together. Ask yourself, can you identify the unacceptable risks to which your family is exposed to? If the response is yes, can you articulate the strategy your family is using to mitigate?If you cannot, you're not ready for 2025, and it's already here.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textComfort feels great, easy and simple. But as the old adage proves, success and opportunity are found outside your comfort zone. For several decades Canada has chosen to be complacent, comfortable and dormant. We've lost our way, from a nation of builders, adventures, explores and innovators, to a couch potato collection of dependasaurus and whiners. We wanted a better world, we chastised those who did things we disagreed with, but then returned to our comfortable couches in our rent stabilized apartment. The landlord just jacked the rent.There are a number of brilliant position papers published at Build Canada, a collection of proud Canadians who believe that we are at a pivotal moment in our history, one of opportunity, the potential to return to greatness. I invite every Canadian to read them, consider the options and contribute to the conversationI believe that if we support independent journalism, accept personal responsibility for our outcomes, build our communities and learn to discuss the hard issues that we will begin the transformation to a resilient society, dependant on each other. I challenge Canadians to attend community events, raise the flag on your home, meet the neighbours, get healthy and have those hard conversations on where you see this nation moving. Ideas create societies, they are fostered collectively, so get together in your little slice of this nation, build up those around you, take care of yourself and together we will do what is within our control to create a resilient society.This is indeed a pivotal time for our great nation. We can stand up and fight to build a resilient and independent nation, or we can lose what little we have left. We did this to ourselves, by being complacent. Whatever the outcome, it will be our fault, so choose wisely.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textGovernments are a finicky thing, often maligned, never understood and staffed by a host of individuals who the population generally views as unproductive and inefficient. These views are present whether you are a libertarian or socialist, we the omnipotent citizens believe there is substantial and unchallenged waste and pork barrelling throughout our governance systems. Cue DOGE.There are necessary things in life that we cannot produce or acquire ourselves, a set of collective needs that are the foundation for governments. Roles like national defence, international relations, trade, currency, criminal and civil courts, protection of the environment, etc. We create a social contract with the government: you do the things we want done but are unable to do as individuals, and through taxation we will provide you the resources to execute. A simple agreement.There are three grounding principles in public sector governance. First is that the government works for the people. Second it exists at the pleasure of the people and third is that it is subject to the oversight of the people. Generalities yes, but unwavering rules that form the social contract.I argue that DOGE's gift is the groundwork for a future delivery method to rebuild institutional trust, to demonstrate to the population that their hard earned dollars are being judiciously managed and allocated to appropriate systems that further the wellbeing of society. Imagine if DOGE was mainstream, that an independent auditor could access every system in the government, release all payment information and contracts on a recurring basis to the population. Millions of Americans would have unrestricted access to a database of expenditures, to conduct their own evaluation on the appropriateness of expenditures, in concert with - not replacing - the Ombudsmen and Auditors General.So bemoan the process by which DOGE is operating, the personalities involved, their potential to gain from access to the information and any other reasons you can foster to fight this initiative. DOGE is brilliant, it is a version of government accountability we've all been waiting for. We want to trust and verify. The government needs to create a system that supports the increase in public trust and confidence, and that begins with transparency. Tell us what you're doing and if I have questions, I'll ask. Novel, but revolutionary.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textWe often bemoan the loss of the Boomer's dream, single family income that pays for a home, vacations and earns a nice retirement pension to enjoy time with grandchildren. Those were wonderful times, but that was only possible with an economic system that supported that life. That ship sailed, those economic models do not exist yet many still try to correlate life in 2025 with the Boomer dream. We live in the GIG economy, where side hustles and regularly moving between salaried positions at a host of companies is the norm. Consistency is not existent and those who succeed embrace the reality they're in, not the one they want.The rise of personal responsibility for retirement, in that it is your duty to fund your golden years, not the government's. If you are in your 20s or 30s and you are not fusing a retirement plan, then you are failing your future self. We discuss work-life balance, that idea that somehow we're supposed to separate these ideas into two distinct parts, as if they are not part of the same pie. In this world, the one here in 2025, you have the ability to do what you love, to swing you legs out of the bed in the morning earning an income with a smile. If you are not doing that, have a look in the mirror and ask why you made that choice. Tough for some to swallow.The economic model of 2025 has brilliant possibilities for everyone, stop looking at your grandparents age and lamenting, understand the world in which you live and thrive.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textWhat can you do to insulate you and your family from the effects of tariff decisions by foreign governments? The intent of this episode is to outline why the US government is making this decision, the rationale for nations to adopt organic production regimes and how these economic pivots affect your life. We all are exposed to risk, based upon the employment we choose, the location where we live and the lifestyles we adopt. There is no zero risk endeavour, hence understanding your risk exposure to external events, evaluating your personal comfort with those risks and then choosing to create a risk / resilience / preparedness plan for your family is highly recommended. What is your plan when you get fired, is your business exposed to the steel or aluminum industry - are you living in a wildfire zone or on a floodplain? Information is power, knowing your risks allows you to mitigate where you can and accept the potential outcomes from the realization of those risks.Planning is key, but without a clear comprehension of your personal risk, you may write the greatest conclusion to the wrong story.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textCommunities are only as strong as their connections, our sense of belonging and place is what ties us geographically and to membership in wider organizations. In our cities and towns populations exist that draw a disproportionate amount of resources in an emergency, but are omitted from planning considerations. Often, the emergency management team simply is unaware of the agencies that represent the interests of the disabled, a barrier to establishing foundational relationships. This interview is a distinct honour, to speak with someone who is deviating significant efforts to raising the awareness of the needs of the disabled, but also reminding society of the assets and skills embedded in a population that despite challenges, is an essential element for community success.The disabled population is but one set of voices that needs to be at the emergency management table, to join in the community conversation on what events look like, how they should be managed and how everyone contributes to better post event outcomes.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textBluster, ideological idiocy and a host of other hot air producing commentary is drowning our social media and semi-professional forums. Like all issues, everyone is now a trade expert, understands international treaties, exceptions and can provide a detailed rationale for this and the next iteration of team A or B. Whether we launch a war on trade, resources, ideology, cultural appropriation, food or obesity, the Internet is ready with millions of instant experts.Let's be clear, no one cares about your opinion, my thoughts on person A or B, or what we believe is the motive behind decisions. At times like this, everyone wants a piece of the pie, their five minutes of fame quoting some obscure voice in an effort to demonstrate their prowess. Funny, lame and ultimately useless, this is the state of the discourse online.The question that few pontificate on is what does this mean for the individual families in the western world and what strategies are available to mitigate the effects and to construct a roadmap to success in this new environment.The first and always most important aspect of change is being OK with uncertainty. Most of us prefer predictable times, where we can count on an income, costs are kept within reasonable inflationary ranges and stability in the overall system is high. That is not now, so the choice is ours. We can bemoan the instability, the uncertainty, you're free to blame whom you choose, but in the end, the world is rapidly undergoing a transformation. The choice you have is to complain about the previous iteration, act like a petulant toddler protesting something you cannot control - or you can choose to understand the environment in which you exist, whether you agree with it or not.A roadmap to success is found in knowledge of the circumstances under which you exist. We simplify this to three areas, income, expenses and you. At the risk of unnecessary repetition, I'll offer once again, this has nothing to do whether you agree with what is happening, whose side you're on and what your preferred outcome is. No, this is setting up you and your family to thrive within the current climate, storms, discourse, ridiculousness included.Is there a strategy, absolutely!Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textRinse and repeat, repacked or polished, increased volume or new influencers - all methodologies leveraged by the public sector in attempts to convince the population that their preparedness communications are accurate, helpful and should be adopted. I've spent over a decade examining this very specific phenomenon, what I refer to as “public sector resident-facing preparedness communications”. I've conducted and published studies on the message, medium, target audience and a host of variables related to the effort. I am certain that Preparedness Week / Month this May will have some form of the message that has been summarily ignored by the public:Have a plan, be informed, build a kit.In the Canadian context, many provincial or territorial governments will wait to see what Public Safety Canada deems to be this year's persuasive twist and repeat. Lower tier local governments are conducting EM off the side of their desk, so the innovation, modernization, disruption or otherwise paradigm challenging ideas are off the table.If we examine the body of knowledge, from indigenous teaching spanning thousands of years to the most recent data, we see a set of correlated variables. The challenge is to separate what we wish to see from the reality. If we examine the available data on populations that experienced significant events, we can then search for individual samples where certain groups were more successful, or in simple terms, had better post event outcomes.The literature is heterogeneous, which I will assert is a positive, not a problem. Disagreement and inconsistency leads to further examination, often the rationale for additional, nuanced inquiry into the phenomenon. This is not settled science, in fact if anyone uses that term they simply do not understand science. Researchers in each niche are operating within a web of variables, data and opinion. The challenge will always be to seek knowledge and evidence-based recommendations, not what amounts to norm-reinforcing cheerleading. My research led to the identification of specific variables correlated with better post event outcomes: sense of belonging measured via social capital, personal responsibility for self and community, institutional trust and a subjective view on government communications.Is there a better strategy, absolutelySupport the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textThere are a few sources to lead us to a conclusion, the first being our legislation. As this is local to national, and to some degree multilateral and multinational, we codify our intent in laws that are geographically bounded. The state EM legislation governs the roles and responsibilities of the field in that state, with no influence or authority over the neighbouring states. In practice, the majority of regional statues in states are similar, with generally common overarching ideas. The specifics, found in the regulatory framework and administrative procedures vary, as do the authorities, often reflective of the local culture and ideology. The second is in the communications, the public sector resident-facing official messaging, which assigns responsibilities to the population and ideally outlines the intended actions of the public sector. These have a high degree of commonality, remaining vague, generalist and unchanged in decades. The preparedness messages occur with a regular frequency, advising the population on hazards and providing advice, the effort is concentrated in persuading the residents to adopt behavoirs the public sector believe will be helpful in times of crisis. Further, there crisis communications, the alerts, immediately preceding an event or in-event messages are all local, ideally culturally appropriate and timely. The third is the population's belief. It is the expectations harboured by the residents, what they believe should happen leading up to, during and after an event. This is the collection of ideas related to direct and indirect support as well as delivery of services directly to the population. The notable portion of this is the face to face, the belief that the public sector will be there, to varying degrees, in person, in the time of need. These beliefs are influenced by culture, sense of place, responsibility and confidence or trust in public sector institutions. This varies across regions and nations.Research links institutional trust to meeting expectations of the served public. That requires both parties to agree to a reasonable standard of care in policy, communicate expectations in regular messaging and then deliver upon what was agreed. Negotiation and discourse are something that used to be standard, but is often overseen by those who believe they are omnipotent in their role to protect.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textWhenever the deliverable from a public sector agency fails to meet expectations, there are two general causes. First, is the most likely, that the expectation of the target audience was outsized or inconsistent with the actual legislated and funded mission. We see this in ad hoc interviews and formal press conferences, where a resident or mayor states they thought the response would be X, but it was Y. It is often simply an unrealistic and uninformed expectation as to the capabilities and capacity of public sector EM that leads the call for change. The second, less likely rationale is that there was a failing within the system, that while it was established and funded to execute a mission, they failed to meet the expected standards. These are harder to identify and longer to investigate, as one quality of public sector agency leadership is that it is uncomfortable with dirty laundry being publicized.FEMA was constructed with the best on intentions, undergoing multiple changes over its near 50 year reign as the global leader in EM bureaucracy. The level of education courses, application or management systems and governance structures is indeed, awe inspiring. Many often joke that it would be a challenge to make it more complex, not impossible, but difficult. It is an easy target to simple say a massive beast of administration failed. Intellectually grounded discussions demand a more precise discussion. One to evaluate is whether FEMA, as currently constructed, funded and governed, is the best known methodology and structure - is it “fit for purpose”. There are no shortage of experts, academics, practitioners and interested parties that believe they know there is a better way. I intentionally avoid the use of that word, “better”. It connotes that the current methodological approach is flawed. I prefer “different”, to pose the question to informed parties, if you designed a government agency to delivery X to Y population with Z budget, how would you do that?I argue that debating the viable options alongside the current construct is the only roadmap to answering the question whether it is fit for purpose. At this juncture in FEMA within the current political and disaster climate, I know of no greater, more profound time to confirm that we have it right, or that there are adjustments.Do we have the leadership to consider options for trimming the tree and those for clear cutting the forest? Time will tell. The answer very well may be we have the most logical system now, but without a comparative analysis, that statement is unsubstantiated.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textHumans are tribal, we are a species that thrives in the collective, where individual skills are amplified by the resources and assistance of others. Throughout our known history, we've been organized into different groups for specific purposes, whether that be family, relational, cultural or fulfilling our basic needs. Classically presented as the Dunbar number, named after a notable British anthropology professor, humans have Neo-cortexes that support a loose acquaintance level of 150 persons and smaller intimate groups of 12-15. These statistics are reflected in military & business organizational systems, the rifle company normally will not exceed 150 personnel and start-ups are often seen as losing culture, vibe and purpose when they exceed Dunbar's number. This research is recent, first published in 1992 and continues to inform our understanding of the need for community, to belong, a sense of place. I've written at length about the value of social capital, our propensity and opportunity to create bonds, and its importance to the safety and future of communities under duress. The body of research in disaster and emergency management (DEM) is reasonably homogenous in that it posits human connections, the value placed on our sense of belonging is one of, if not the key variable, in determining the quality of our post event outcomes. Whether we pontificate on how neanderthals managed earthquakes, or we examine the last 300 years of data on human tribal response to significant exogenous shock, I will argue that the value of community is unquestioned, but under-utilized.We transformed from a duty to contribute to and build our tribe to entitlement to draw from it. A slow, deliberate, methodical change in our culture that now has a nation of what is colloquial referred to as a collection of individual dependasaurus. This extends to how we have changed our political demands, we seek politicians and governments that provide for us, give us benefits so that we can do what we desire, vice the tribal sense of contributing to and building the local community. We no longer focus on our duty to fellow citizens and our Dunbar numbered tribe, but our orientation is on what is our benefit, what are we entitled to and how can we systematically increase the reach of the benevolent government.Now, every bump in the night leads to a call for more government intervention, for a program to alleviate the issue, when the solution is found within a short walk of your house.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a text“The global order is under revision”, likely the most understated quote from a series of interviews surrounding the inauguration of the latest US President. The events of the past 48 hours and the weeks to come will to the best of every pundit's ability, be tied to the new leader of the free world, whether you're a supporter or detractor. The reality is that, as I've written before, this decade is the expected global re-organization. A phenomenon that has occurred every 70-80 years since the age of sail in the 1400s. Clearly delineated by Ray Dalio in the seminal work, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order, these events were going to occur in this period irrespective of who was at the helm. The direction and actors may shuffle with a different conductor, but not the process. In simple terms, as a generation perishes and their memory on why the world exists “as is” expires, nations jockey for position, influence and roles on the globe. All of this is outside our influence, as individuals we are entitled to our views, opinions and beliefs, but those are inconsequential to the global order. Many will choose to “lose it” with an election result, or be “befuddled and unglued” with a politician's policy initiatives, but again, in the grand scheme, this is and always will be beyond our personal control. Yet many will create stress, amplify anxiety and burden themselves and their families with undo harm as they perceive great peril and injustice.Preparedness is intent, your choice to decide that you wish to do what you can against what you cannot control. I cannot chose the next US President, but as a resident of Canada that decision is impactful in my life. My responsibility is then not to become a keyboard warrior on the evils of one ideology versus another, but to understand how that decision by the US electorate may affect how I have chosen to live my life. This is accomplished through examining what scholars refer to as the spheres of influence or panes of life: political, economic, cultural, ideological, natural and familial. How will this event potentially impact my personal roadmap in life? A series of questions related to the likely - not hyped or ideologically driven paranoia, but what policy decisions by this politician will impact my life. The key is not the ones you disagree with, the bellicose statements, but the actual policy itself. Who cares what a politician says, what they do is what matters.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textThe point is vacations matter, to disconnect and repair. The mind and body are finite tools for life, they are our mot important resource, the key to our success and the reason we'll exit. I've learned that when I say I'm gone, to be gone. So this year, I pre-recorded all the podcast episodes for Inside My Canoehead, wrote a few Substack articles and prepared notes for my return. Those notes are what led to this article, today is the return day.Reflections are important. What did I learn on vacation - did I disconnect, respect my personal boundaries and was I all-in, present with the family, or was I thinking about the business, clients and goals for 2025. This year, I'll score my vacation a 8.5/10.Vacations matter to prepare the mind for the logic vs insanity dance that is our discourse. To fight ideology and idiocy requires preparation and a keen eye, successful keyboard warriors respond cleverly, not in narcissistic spam.I did lean slightly into the fires in California, the New Year's Day attacks and other important events. That's the reason for the less than perfect vacation score. I've done much worse and I've said countless times before, success or failure is my fault. On balance I met my expectations, but I will do better the next time. I will pen some ideas about where we go from here, but for now, I'll encourage everyone to be on vacation when you're away. The world and your professional life will be fine without you, because one day you will be gone and someone will carry on, so smell the roses.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textWe traditionally think of preparedness as a function of natural disasters, where we ready for storms and events that may cut off the critical infrastructure for days. When we think about economic preparedness, it is often the gateway conversation to understanding that the phenomenon extends to political, economic, cultural / ideological and familial crisis as well.Your family's primary income is exceptionally important to their ongoing health, it should be protected to the greatest extent possible. Hence, we discuss the ideas of creating a plan for when your income suddenly goes to zero, how you'll replicate that income, the timeframe to resume earning and the necessary emergency funds. Further, we talk about the need to understand the environment in which your company operates, is there an exogenous force that may cause your employer to close, reduce shifts or otherwise make changes to your level of income. We finish with a conversation about entrepreneurship, the challenges with that and concerns about preparedness that are essential to those building wealth. We know you cannot become wealthy by accepting a salary, only through business. Are you ready to venture into the unknown? I would only do so with a robust economic preparedness plan, that's what we offer...Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textDoomsday Preppers was a series on TV, the reality is that much of what was on that program was scripted for show, those individuals were not that crazy. However, much of the modern impression of preppers is grounded in the idea that they are disconnected from reality, they hate government, love guns, want chaos and basically want to see the world burn.The truth is that preppers are simply individuals who believe that there is a likelihood of a pause in the provision of critical infrastructure (CI) that will last longer than 14 days, but that society will eventually recover and return to normal. Hence, their preparedness measures differ from what is normally recommended as they adopt processed that allow them to replicate the sectors of CI for an extended period.Not the stockpiling of basements, but the skills and tools necessary to provide for what is no longer available from society.In this episode, we talk about how to become a prepper, the concerns, processes and idea - including how to build a group and find an offsite location for temporary evacuation of urban / suburban areas.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textWhether or not we like it, we all age. We might be caring for a loved one, an extended family member, or we are co-located in high density housing with seniors. There are real issues as we age, from physical mobility, cognitive decline, climactic control, evacuation, cyber crime and overall health.Preparedness is individual specific, hence there are concerns related to your trifecta of preparedness plans if you are a senior, your ability to maintain positive control of your life, the choice of accommodation that assists in mitigating your restrictions and a host of other considerations.If you are in your golden years or are caring for someone who is, this is worth listening to, to spark some ideas, to begin the conversation about protecting those you love from harm, as they age. Preparedness is future proofing and good decisions now will facilitate a good life tomorrow. Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textWelcome to the new year, a time when we regularly burden ourselves with unrealistic expectations, near impossible goals and set ourselves up for failure. A totally expected and avoidable situation. Maybe there is another way, a different methodology to review the past year, to consider what occurred, how it went, what you might have done differently and do so with kindness. Starting a new year beating yourself up over past decisions that are always goofy in the rearview mirror is not a recipe for success. Be kind, forgiving. It is what it is, you are where you are, so where would you like to go?I offer my strategy, the one that enables me to set new goals across life's six areas of physical, mental and financial health, as well as relationships, professional life and leisure activities. A visual exercise to imagine a good life, then map the steps to achieve it. A novel view on success for 2025 - not ghost or monk mode, no 75 hard or strict carnivore diet; but a reasonably achievable roadmap to a happier, more joyful life.Not a bad outcome. Welcome to 2025. Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textOur holiday series continues with a discussion on thriving, a definition and exact process to follow. The current government communications message of have a kit, make a plan and be informed is grounded in a 30+ year old Cold War mentality of within 72 hours you'd either be saved by the government or there is no government. In today's modern, technologically enabled society, the goal of preparedness is to wrap your hopes and dreams in a blanket of protection. To enable you to carry on living your life as you choose, irrespective of the external events. While others are falling down, confused, stressed and directionless, you're executing a well understood plan, with little to nominal disruptions in your life. The old moniker hols true, a lone wolf dies, while a pack survives. Accepting personal responsibility means understanding that you need a tribe, not of other peppers, but of those close by. Your neighbours, community, faith groups and other groups of people benefit from trusted relationships.Humans survived for millennia because we relied on each other, leveraged our personal skill sets and supported the group, that remains true today. To thrive, you need to change the unit of measure from one to many, to build a community of preparedness with your neighbours. Instead of the government trying to build 100 different prepared families on a street, the evidence says you need one prepared community. You cannot purchase your way to preparedness, there is no economic barrier to adopting preparedness.Preparedness is a lifestyle, not a stockpile. Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textOver these holidays, it is always a blessing to reflect on the year, what was and was not successful, take stock of life, be grateful and thank someone for helping us along the way. This series is designed to entertain over the holidays, to lighten the load of political and economic harm, to provide some time to ponder your preparedness journey.In preparedness we often take this time to reflect on first principles, to return from a detailed analysis of something foundational, and bring the conversation back to simple terms.This episode reflects on personal responsibility, the grounding argument for preparedness. You are not a victim, oppressed, held back or otherwise not responsible for your outcomes. We all fail, as we should, so that we can learn and do better. The average millionaire goes bankrupt a few times before they earn 7 figures. Think about where you live, for whom you're responsible, the local hazards, access and dependancy on critical infrastructure and how you intend to shelter in place. Basic, but worthy of your time.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textPost pandemic, we reflect on the state of our healthcare systems, public health and preparedness education. Are they ready for the next plague and what are those efforts that would contribute to a set of better post event outcomes. There are consistent calls for additional "investments or strategic incentives", AKA more taxes on the population, to build the robust capacity required to better manage the next calamity.The issue is that in all these fields, we are addressing the symptom, not the issue. We need to say the quiet part out loud, the population is sick and unhealthy. If we invest in preparedness education - not the crap provided today, and we create a physically and mentally healthy society, the demands on the healthcare system collapse - leading to the surge capacity required for significant events. No new money, beds or staff required. We don't do that, we just call for more magical government money to treat the symptoms, funding a death spiral of the system. We can do far better, with no additional funding. But that's not the answer people want to hear, for it requires us to personally accept responsibility for our physical, mental and financial health. Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textIt is often stated that we are the most connected, yet loneliest generation. We hold in our hands a device that has access to the entire knowledge base of our species, the ability to call anyone on the planet and to send and receive information across all mediums. Yet we don't know our neighbours, we are increasingly less tied to our communities and our sense of identity is less linked to place. It is the time of the individual, when the world needs the community.Across the literature in multiple social sciences, there is a reasonably regularly occurring thread of the importance of human relationships, the value found only at in-person situations. We know there are physiological responses to the presence of another human, ones that do not present in online interactions. We are biologically wired to be together, in each other's presence. We're a tribal species who like the wolf, may be capable of survival as an individual, but to thrive requires a team.The champion. Every community requires someone to step up and start, to initiate the first enabling environment, to announce the activation context and to organize the initial in-person gathering. Whether that is the local EM representative, a concerned voice in the chamber of commerce or a not for profit volunteer who sees an increasing demand for their services. I have seen a few examples in my research in Canada, a number of communities that have created a non-governing, non-decision making space where response is discussed. Often best described with the question: “What does it look like when X happens in our community, how will it affect you, your operations and what do you think we can do about it?”. A place for all four sectors of society to discuss the real impacts of certain events and as a team, consider what they could do, realize existing resources and coordinate assistance. In the words of a stalwart in the field, Damon Coppola, “In a resilient community, EM is the redundancy”, not the primary response vehicle - that's the community.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textWho and what is a preparedness guy? Nat Sellers is a passionate emergency manager with his own podcast, diligently plowing away at the bureaucracy and the barriers to building a resilient community. His efforts and ideas will keep you glued to the speaker, this is likely the first of many conversations.Our goal is to provide a broad swath of opinions, ones that support and those which challenge the status quo. We need to consider disruptive ideas, those that might - but not necessarily, find innovative ways to deliver emergency management services at higher degrees of efficiency, while remaining effective. A tall order.Nat Sellers is one of those voices, ideas galore and a great deal of fun to chat with, you'll enjoy this wide array of topics within the genre and some important nuggets for your preparedness journey. Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textIt is not that the population sees preparedness as unnecessary, but when associated as a cost element for a family, most are choosing to maintain more realtime budgetary requirements. Preparedness is future proofing, supper is today. If we correlate a cost to preparedness, we create an offramp, the easy button to choose not to adopt a prepared life as it is outside our current economic conditions. The State creates the economic barrier in preparedness and then reinforces it as a selection on surveys. Offer a respondent the opportunity to indicate that something is important but unachievable due to economic conditions beyond their control, and they will do so in a statistically significant way. Simple logic and psychology. The individual feels better about themselves by assigning the blame for not adopting preparedness to the economy, not too different from the response to climate change arguments - I would do what I perceive as the right thing, but it costs money I don't have access to, so I will hold the beliefs, feel good about myself and carry on. Preparedness for disasters is a niche and interesting gateway to the overall phenomenon, a way to ground individuals in a new worldview, a reflective exercise expressed in the words of the stoics. Being ready to navigate events from the five areas of influence is an exercise in education, strategy and human relationships - not money. Significant barriers to adopting preparedness exist, but access to financial resources is not one of those. It is unfortunate that one of the obstacles to overcome is the government.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textPublic sector governance contains a relative scant level of review, not in the form of annual budgetary allocations, but in colloquial terms, a “fit for purpose” analysis. I've written before on the outsized level of bureaucracy, which at the origin, was likely created in times of need, to benefit the public. We're often quite good at ameliorating sudden onset issues with programatic interventions, what we're far less successful at is sunsetting those initiatives. Track records demonstrate that they take on a life of their own, having personally spent well over a decade at the strategic level of national governance, I can attest to the internal force of expansionist interest. Often these initially helpful and necessary programs or agencies are morphed and adapted by what the public servants refer to as scope creep. By expanding the inclusivity of a program, the responsibilities assigned to it, it grows. It is far easier for governance to add a new category or scheme to an existing program, than to begin the regulatory and administrative changes to establish a new, specifically orientated agency. Over time, agencies grow past the initial mandate to become an octopus of entanglement, where the tentacles of the organization are now present in a diverse range of public sector arenas, that it becomes necessary and to some degree sufficient for overall public sector governance.The answer may be a scalpel or chainsaw, or a combination of both. The answer might be to substantially rewrite the primary legislation for EM at the national level, redistribute responsibilities or remove requirements altogether. Everything should be on the table, to ensure the best possible service levels for the resources allocated.We don't know until we try - and we're not tryingSupport the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textOngoing discourse in the international media is largely focussed on the incoming US administration. Not simply for their choices for key positions, but to ascertain the intent behind the bluster, what is the goal of reorienting the economics and relationships of the world's superpower. Again, for the folks in the back, this is about knowledge, not opinion. The goal is to be part of the group who draw the correct conclusions and understands the specific roadmap of the new hegemonic leadership, thus embracing it to succeed.My argument is that this is an exercise in national preparedness. The role of a federal government in any nation is to look outwards and hold onto internal unity. The role of public policy is to be the instrument that leads to that outcome, to design legislative statues with guiding regulations, supported by focussed administrative procedures that deliver on one of the two. To use a sports analogy, every nation has a home and away game. At home, where their records are normally more positive, the regime must settle internal quibbles and public demonstrations of angst with the administration, in democracies through ensuring the sub-national governments are capable of meeting the needs of residents and national programs are functioning at least above par. On the road, there are no fans, only opponents, where the record is usually less favourable, but there are key matchups in regional divisions that need to be dominated, or at least, neutral.Whether you're a fan of Peter Zeihan, Ray Dalio, Ian Bremmer, Yuval Harari or other notable thinkers, there is a consistent thread throughout their writings. A nation must be capable of delivering for their citizens, providing for their needs and protection. There are many theories on how to accomplish this, but in simple modern terms, it is the provision of food, energy, resources and a functioning economy in which residents can participate, thrive, survive and see a future. The provision of those elements is national preparedness.A government must ensure that its citizen's eat, so they either grow the totality of nutrients required to sustain the population, or they negotiate trade deals to allow the import of food. Further, a nation living in the 21st century requires a reliable source of power, generated organically within its borders or traded with nations. Finally, core resources, like steel and its byproducts, technological inputs like semiconductors and the litany of supporting parts are essential to a nation's prosperity. Governments across the ideological spectrum negotiate trade deals to facilitate the ongoing provision of these three key elements: food, energy and resources. Together, they facilitate the functioning economy. These inputs allow a nation to create commerce, lives for their citizens and prosperity - as well as keeping a politician in power.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textIn this modern, technologically enabled age, we often see explicit examples of bloated public sector bureaucracy's inability to provide a service, deliver on a promise or otherwise operate at expectations. We've become accustomed to packaged excuses, a series of well honed announcements about limitations, regulatory requirements, procedural hurdles, governance considerations and a bibliography worth of doublespeak.We're left to wonder whether anything is reasonably possible to achieve through our established framework of systems, the origins of which likely had altruistic purposes. When we first decided that there was a need for government intervention or oversight, we restricted the creation of new offices to fairly focussed responsibilities. Then the good idea fairy visits, the expansion of things to be considered, the possibility of extending current programming to a slightly broader audience, to adapt to changing situations leads us down a preverbal superhighway to expansion. Long before taking a breath to reflect, we've created a monstrous behemoth, a leviathan of consumption to address what was at one point, a reasonable consideration.The question is whether, at this point in history, with the taxpayer broke and the borrowing heydays behind us, should we look at a version of “gutting” the public service? Is there a rational argument for a significant reduction in “nice to haves” and concentrate on what is mandated?Within EM, bureaucracy is preventing rapid, agile and resource intelligent preparedness, response and recovery operations. The calls for additional resources are because the beast is hungry, it wants to feed, to grow, to oversee more and more. If we were to expand resources in EM, there would likely be a bureaucratic addition, governance and additional regulatory frameworks to oversee the expansion. More resources ≠ more capabilities, just more governance.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textThere are a range of preparedness specific goals and missions. From those who ascribe to cataclysmic societal outcomes requiring a considerable investment of resources, or those who simply seek a slightly more favourable insurance coverage, we are executing in the preparedness space. Your purchase of coverage against hazards in the form of disability, life, automobile, tenant, fire, and contents insurance are all preparedness measures. The budget allocation of an emergency fund of several months expenses and continuing your education while employed are both notable preparedness actions. The former protects against immediate pain and the later prepares you to pivot to an alternate line of employment.Preparedness is not a mystical activity for doomsday, but an active ongoing consideration for everyone.An approach I champion is to frame your preparedness strategy as the insurance plan for your goals and dreams. If you clearly articulate what it is you'd like to achieve, in specifics, that facilitates the strategic roadmap. This is the plan you create to get from here to your goal. while simplistic in nature, many fester at this point, they can express what they desire, but the pathway to reach it is unclear. By creating a plan to achieve your strategy, to reach your goal, you've delineated what must be protected.Then all that remains is a series of questions on what might derail this idea and what must I do to mitigate against that event's ability to alter my plan to reach my goal. Those actions derived from these questions in your preparedness strategy. Go forth and get your piece of the pie, wrapped in a blanket of preparedness insulation.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textThe war in Ukraine fosters many an opinion, individuals who rally for the world consensus against invasion of sovereign states, those who seek to disrupt global order and those who seek to economically gain from continued conflict. The Ukrainian question is one where everyone wants to be right, to be on the winning side, the righteous, the benevolent.The challenge with Ukraine is that everyone is right, if you look through the perspective of the waring parties, you understand why all sides fight: the Russians, Ukrainians, NATO, North Korea and the numerous unnamed belligerents who comprise the estimated dozens of nations with soldiers in the field. With an economic lens, you most certainly understand the value of a destroyed Ukraine to the reconstruction companies that made an almost unmeasurable fortune in the war on terror, or to the munitions companies whose latest technologies are employed on a modern real life proving ground. The Ukraine war is fuelling the goals and dreams of a vast swath of political and economic interests, which makes it incredibly hard to stop. Too many powerful interests have stakes in the continuation of this conflict to see it coming to a close, without a dramatic event.In general, we understand preparedness to be the totality of physical and cognitive efforts to ready oneself, household, community, nation - etc., to navigate exogenous shock with the least disruption possible. These shocks are categorized into five main arenas, though in some cases the catalyst will be a combination of these origins: natural, economic, political, cultural and familial. To understand the implications of the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine on our lives, especially far removed from the conflict zone, we consider the five origins and frame a series of questions related to the effects on how we live our lives.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textThe argument is this: I believe that within a decade or so, the losses from disasters will be so expense that irrespective of the damage, there will no longer be any government assistance for those who are uninsured. Residents will simply have to go bankrupt and walk away. Were need a solution to stop that outcome.We cannot order insurance companies to make policies cheaper, they'd go bankrupt. We cannot order residents to pay premiums they cannot afford, they'd go bankrupt. We cannot order the government to pay for disaster losses, they're going bankrupt.Insurance is best viewed as an investment, not an expense. We protect that which we deem valuable, from ourselves through medical, our loved ones through life, our cars through automobile, our stupidity through personal umbrellas and our domiciles and contents through house insurance. Hence, it is an investment to hedge against exogenous shocks that are largely outside our control, to cover the recovery costs post event. A simple idea that suffers from two main problems - personal responsibility and coverage from the taxpayer.These are tough conversations we're not having, how do we as a society navigate this reality?Why are we assuming the government will always be able to fund this expense?Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textResearch from across the discipline over the past twenty years has argued that the most influential and correlated variable to better post event outcomes is the sense of community and belonging. Whether found in hundred year old disasters in Japan, recent hurricanes in the USA, floods in Europe, earthquakes in Asia - all point to one singular variable that is an indicator of a household's likelihood of recovering from a disaster and made whole. In a previous article, I wrote about the strategies to build a resilient community, one where it is not individual household fending for themselves - the translation of public sector preparedness communications, but an intertwined web of networks and social connections that move as a whole. A force greater than the hazard and far out sizing government, community is the centre of gravity for successful preparedness operations.We're in the slow burn phase of a paradigmatic shift in the preparedness sub-field of EM, the evidence is present, the experiments continue to confirm community as the most influential variable, but change has yet to come. As Khun writes, this often takes considerable periods of time, where stalwarts hold onto previous ideas and theories, often due to sunk cost fallacy, educational structures in the discipline and organizational norms that reinforce the existing framework. We need to continue to champion the idea that the unit of measure in preparedness is not the human or household, but the community. Embracing what the science informs is more difficult than simple acceptance, as it challenges that which has framed and governed our efforts for generations. The world has changed, innovation is present at our doorsteps, but many continue to hold onto a comfort, the known, the accepted, the simple path.It begins with changing the unit of measure to community and embracing technologies, being innovative and understanding that the government, community organizations, the corporate sector and households are equal partners in success. One is not superior to the others, collectively the four sectors of society are greater than the sum of the parts. We're almost there…Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textWe live in a technologically enabled society, where residents look to online sources for information, guidance and education. The emergency management space has been lacking investment into this field, with few notable participants challenging the paradigm of traditional communication methods.Hazadapt represents a breakthrough, an intelligent design that presents a series of Hazards and strategies to navigate, with a separate "Prep Check" to evaluate your readiness for such an event. The data is evidence-based, drawn from specific, tested and trusted sources.This has the potential to become a standard bearer in the industry, Ginny is a brilliant human, passionate about her mission to prepare the nation for future calamities and unfortunate life events. A distinct honour and pleasure to interview.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textWe've seen many recent calamities that called for a shelter in place plan, with the plethora of YouTube channels and information on sheltering, we offer evidence-based strategies to enable a successful event. Researchers examine populations that experience disasters and seek the individual pockets of households that had better post event outcomes, suffered less and navigated the event with less disruption. We then seek to understand those variables that influenced those better results and translate those variables into preparedness education. Evidence, not opinion or belief.We cover family considerations, communications in a crisis, your animalistic requirements of food, water, shelter, health, safety and security as well as incorporating your dependency on and exposure to sectors of critical infrastructure. Non-apocalyptic evidence-based preparedness education, free of charge.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textThe global economic picture continues to be volatile, unpredictable and profoundly influenced by political, cultural and natural events. In the modern technologically enable society, we have three choices for a career.We can choose a profession, those with standards, formal education and fully regulated - military, medical, legal, engineering, construction trades, et.We can choose a salary position, where we exchange our services for renumeration, contributing to the weather building of others.We can choose entrepreneurial endeavours, where we exchange current effort for future benefits, as the sole responsible contributor to success or failure.The modern entrepreneur includes everyone that has a bold and innovative idea to solve a pain in society, to overcome a barrier or obstacle to provide a dream outcome to the population - via minimal investment by the client. Be that a side hustle, a 100% personal time commitment or a combination of both, within all our industries there are opportunities to build real wealth, only availing through being an entrepreneur and accepting full and absolute responsibility for your outcomes. Exactly the same commitment required to adopt a prepared life.Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a textThe US is a superpower, its influence over global economic, political and cultural conflicts is profound. Your preparedness plan requires you to understand the environment in which you operate, to insulate you, your family and your economic interests against political carnage.Whether you are on the left tor right, and let's be clear - no one cares, the direction the US government takes will impact us all to different degrees. Hence, at this time you need to understand your exposure to political, economic and cultural regulations and rules that may change when the ballots are counted. Further, you have an opportunity in the modern knowledge economy to exploit the election, to examine your niche to understand how a new government will influence your sector and make those preparations now. In March 2025 there will be significant alterations of the US economic and political outlook, irrespective of who wins.It is your responsibility to understand how a change in government will affect your life, not whether you agree with it. It is irrelevant what you want to happen, preparedness calls for you to be ready to navigate what will or is likely to occur, that is emotionless and rational. Support the showwww.insidemycanoehead.ca