【明報專訊】If zealous fans of Thomas Friedman, the author of the best seller The World Is Flat, got up in arms about the title of this article, I would hasten to say I merely want to explain a very useful philosophy of life I learnt at UC Berkeley. My professor, a Public Policy guru (權威), taught us that to manage risks, it is important to focus our resources on rendering the business-critical components fail-proof. I have been deploying this piece of advice with much success in my career, even while helping my students with their spoken English.