My lifetime experience is risk. Now that I have my own risk consulting firm, I’m asked what exactly it is that I do. When I introduce myself, I often get a perplexed stare. Risk…um…what? It’s a delight to embrace that perplexity and a wonderful challenge. So, it’s like this….
Risk is the fabric of all our lives. We begin to learn its importance from birth. We’re taught at an early age what the safe and practical aspects of life are. We learn to be careful not to throw a ball too close to a window…the importance of checking both ways when crossing a street…or to check the weather report before we choose our coats or footwear for the day ahead.
Risk in its simplest terms is about the choices we make as we measure the reality of our environments both personally and professionally. Risk management and its mitigation is understanding our environment and choosing the best approach to successfully living within it.
Now, let’s take it up a notch, shall we?
Risk also involves how we individually and collectively manage our finances and our life choices. Risk involves the celebration of our success in the positivity of those choices and our actions to achieve them, but also a recognition of the negativity we experience when things go wrong. We have historically learned to call them “problems” which does us a disservice.
It’s that whole question of whether or not your cup is half empty or half full right? Risk management is at its best looking at your glass half full. Let’s change your perception of reality and call your “problem” an opportunity for improvement! Imagine the concept of the dastardly issue you are looking at as a means of reinventing your reality.
Risk management – whether personal or professional is about utilizing the resources you have to their maximum potential by understanding their strengths and their weaknesses. Issues are a fact of life. They manifest themselves on their own through error situationally or as part of a bigger global scheme of the socioeconomic pressures of the economy.
Risk involves the five classical elements – earth, water, fire, air and aether that impact human existence. These natural forces shape our experiences and our way of life. Let’s now take it a step further, shall we? These basic classical elements provide the natural components of the product and services we offer professionally and experience personally. The capacity to measure and successfully utilizes these resources assists us in managing our risk.
For those of us who practice risk management and mitigation, risk is a wondrous entity. It’s a wonderful multi-dimensional spinning ball. Risk is as rich in the complexity of its fabric as it is simplistic in its diversity. As we mitigate risk personally and professionally, we need to embrace its humanity. We practice risk as we weigh our life’s options and make our choices. Risk management exponentiates as we add the layers of our lives and our business practices. It’s colorful, messy and an adventure. The differences in risk and its management are the paths we choose as we traverse life. It’s important to embrace the good, the bad and the messy as we seize the opportunities given to us.