project management

Ignoring Implementers of Strategic Decisions – Why It’s Risky and How to Fix It

“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” We’ve all heard this idiom that first appeared in Thomas Reid’s “Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man” published in 1786. The phrase is commonly used to describe organizations or groups and how they are only as strong as the weakest or laziest member. By…

Signpost Analysis – An Easy Way to Anticipate Long-Term Risks

With information and other demands for our attention bombarding us each day, it can be hard to think about the long-term. As a growing number of examples show, ignoring long-term risks to strategic objectives can be devastating, especially considering the world of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA) we find ourselves in. While discussing the…

Avoid the Scramble: Proactively Plan for Changes in Risk Owner

Wouldn’t it be nice if a risk simply went away when the risk owner left the organization or changed roles? Okay, now wake up from that dream…this doesn’t happen in real life. As a previous article on assigning a risk owner explains, the ERM unit does not actually manage risks. Instead individual(s) who are close…

The Why, What, and How of ERM Software: An Essential Buyer’s Guide

PART 1: INTRODUCTION PART 2: WHY ERM SOFTWARE IS NEEDED PART 3: TYPES OF ERM SOFTWARE PART 4: HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT ERM SOFTWARE SYSTEM PART 1: INTRODUCTION What do you think is the most difficult part of enterprise risk management for risk managers and executives to make sense of? Is it risk appetite…

Why Do Most Organizations Avoid Quantitative Risk Assessment?

No ERM process that is effective at helping a company understand threats and opportunities to achieving objectives is going to just create a list of risks. While that may be sufficient for a regulator, it means absolutely nothing for helping executives run the organization better. After identification, companies then take the vital step of assessing…

Using Monte Carlo Simulation to Support Decision-Making

My first interview with Hans Læssøe last month covered a wide-range of topics, including background on what led Hans’ former company to adopt ERM and a few factors key to its success. In this interview, we discuss a topic I’ve touched on briefly in previous articles but haven’t elaborated on much, until now. Monte Carlo…

Why Organizations Struggle with Key Risk Indicators and How to Make Them Work

If done properly, key risk indicators (KRIs) can be a valuable tool for proactively managing risks to achieving strategic objectives. As I explain in a previous article, being proactive is one of the key differences between traditional and enterprise risk management. Despite their potential for facilitating the proactive management of risk, around 70% of organizations…

ERM at Thanksgiving – An Illustration of Risk Management in Action

It’s Thanksgiving week in the U.S. – the air is crisp, Fall colors abound, and there is a palpable excitement as we enter the year-end holiday season. This week’s holiday provides a great opportunity to reconnect with family and old friends and take stock of what we’re grateful for. On occasion, I like to take…

3 Easy Steps to Ensure an Optimal Outcome for Enterprise Risk Management

You have been asked to meet a deadline to accomplish a given goal for enterprise risk management in your organization. What is the first thing you do? You instantly start making a list of all the necessary steps (doesn’t matter whether the list is electronic, hard-copy, or a mental list). Then you put those steps…

What are Organizations’ True Barriers to Implementing ERM?

My posts for this month (May 2019) have focused on results from the 2019 State of Risk Oversight report from NC State. Each of these posts (see here and here) not only reported survey results but also included additional commentary based on my experience. Up to this point, I had no reason to challenge anything…

project management

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