Understanding Risk and Making Better Decisions with Michele Wucker

Michele Wucker is the founder of the Chicago-based strategy firm Gray Rhino & Company, drawing on three decades of experience – first as a financial journalist, and then media and think tank executive. She has been honored as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and as a Guggenheim Fellow.

Risk has always been a part of life, to the point that for most of human existence life was risk. 

Drawing on compelling risk stories around the world and weaving in economics, anthropology, sociology, and psychology research, Michele has written a new book, You Are What You Risk: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World which bridges the divide between professional and lay risk conversations. She challenges stereotypes about risk attitudes, re-frames how gender and risk are related, and shines new light on generational differences. She shows how the new science of “risk personality” is re-shaping business and finance, how healthy risk ecosystems support economies and societies, and why embracing risk empathy can resolve conflicts. Michele shares her insights along with practical tools, and proven strategies that help us to understand what makes us who we are, and in turn, to make better choices, both big and small.

Most Recent Episodes

April 1, 2024

Octavia Goredema on Doing Work that Matters

How do you get the job, or position, or career, where the work that you do matters - and not just to your employer -  but to you? Few experiences in life are as awful as the feeling of being trapped...

Listen · 1:16:02

March 1, 2024

Creativity and Innovation in Business and Design: Lance Cayko on (re)Inventing Architecture

At the intersection of architecture is art, creativity, design, engineering, sociology, psychology, and inspiration, not to mention survival, sustainability, and comfort. It’s been said that...

Listen · 1:11:41

February 1, 2024

Eduardo Briceño on the Performance Paradox: When Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect

To succeed in a fast-changing world, individuals and companies know they must create a culture of growth, where experimentation and feedback are encouraged, and learning is integrated into the...

Listen · 1:11:48

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Dr. Chris Stout Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Chris Stout is a licensed clinical psychologist and international humanitarian with a diverse background in various domains. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Global Initiatives (a Top-Rated Nonprofit) and is the Executive Producer and Host of the popular “Living a Life in Full” a top-ranked podcast with an audience of over 3 million. He was a Fellow in the School of Public Health and Full Professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois, Chicago and prior to that he held an academic appointment at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. He served as a NGO Special Representative and had the honor of speaking at the United Nations; he holds the distinction of being one of only 100 world-wide leaders appointed to the World Economic Forum’s Global Leaders of Tomorrow and was an Invited Faculty at the Annual Meeting in Davos.