Description: The Stepping Stone, the newsletter of the Management and Personal Development Section. August 2014 entire issue.

Description: Rote utilitarianism is prone to subjective bias and other risks when used to support decisions on the evolving ethical gray zone.

Description: Career planning

Description: The latest installment in a series that applies Buddhist principles to actuarial practice. This particular installment focuses on the author's recent experience in recovering from serious injury, the lessons from Buddhism learned during that process, and the parallels of healing to the challenges actuaries face when businesses or processes are "broken".

Description: This second article about ethical decision making for actuaries focuses on practical issues confronting ethical decision makers and offers some possible solutions.

Description: This article discusses the need to be self-aware of our development items, and to stretch ourselves to get better in the areas that we must develop.

Description: A look at cognitive biases, which are common tendencies of people when thinking about issues and when making decisions. Confirmation bias and sunk cost effects.

Description: In the process of getting credentialed, there are more important things than a passing score. Life is not about numbers but transferable behaviors.

Description: In this book review of ‘Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results,’ by Thomas Davenport, Jeanne Harris and Robert Morison, the reviewer notes it has attracted the attention of senior managers and executives who are interested in developing a culture of fact based vs. “gut based” decision making. The book describes the value of transitioning to an analytic based culture and how to do it. From ‘The Stepping Stone’ issue number 43.

Description: The author recounts his experience of switching employers and moving from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia. He offers advice for others contemplating moving to a new country.