RiskMasters | Trailblazing Risk Leadership

Has risk management lost sight of what it was originally supposed to achieve?In this RiskMasters — The Download extract, Grant Purdy offers a provocative perspective on how the risk management profession has evolved and why he believes it needs to reconnect with decision-making.Grant reflects on the different philosophies that developed around ISO 31000 and COSO ERM. He argues that while ISO 31000 had the potential to move risk management towards decision support, tensions remained between integrating risk thinking into normal management decisions and maintaining separate risk management processes, terminology and frameworks.He also discusses a proposed revision of ISO 31000 around 2015 which, in his account, would have reframed the standard around helping organisations recognise and take account of uncertainty when making decisions. That more fundamental change was ultimately not adopted.The discussion then moves beyond standards to the profession itself.Grant questions whether risk management has become too focused on its own processes, documentation and terminology, including the difficulty practitioners still have in agreeing what the word “risk” actually means.His central argument is clear: risk management should not become an end in itself. Its value should come from helping organisations understand uncertainty and make better decisions.Grant Purdy's perspective on ISO 31000 and COSO ERMWhy integrating risk management with decision-making remains difficultThe proposed rethink of ISO 31000 around decision support and uncertaintyWhether risk management has become too focused on process and documentationWhy definitions of risk continue to create difficulties for the professionWhy Grant believes risk management should ultimately support better decisionsThis extract is taken from the full CPD-accredited RiskMasters conversation with Grant Purdy on ISO 31000, risk management, uncertainty and better decision-making.🎧 Listen to the full conversation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or at aevitium.com.

What was ISO 31000 originally designed to achieve, and how did the international risk management standard develop?In this RiskMasters — The Download extract, Grant Purdy, who was directly involved in the development of ISO 31000, explains the origins of the standard and its relationship with organisational decision-making.Grant traces ISO 31000 back to the Australian and New Zealand standard AS/NZS 4360, first published in 1995 and subsequently updated in 1999 and 2004. The objective was to bring greater consistency to different approaches to risk assessment and risk treatment while producing information that decision-makers could understand and use.As other countries began adopting AS/NZS 4360, Grant and his colleagues approached the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) about developing an international standard. What followed was a four-year process of discussion and compromise as different countries brought their own perspectives on risk management.Grant explains why the resulting ISO 31000 framework sought to integrate risk management and decision-making, but also why he believes this contributed to a distinction that continues to shape the profession.In his view, different philosophies of risk management have subsequently developed. He characterises the ISO 31000 approach as increasingly focused on decision support, while describing COSO and IRM approaches as placing greater emphasis on risk identification, governance and reporting.That distinction leads to a fundamental question for risk leaders: is risk management primarily a process for identifying and reporting risk, or should its ultimate purpose be to improve organisational decisions?The origins and history of ISO 31000How ISO 31000 evolved from AS/NZS 4360The original purpose of risk assessment and risk treatmentWhy risk information should support organisational decision-makingHow the international risk management standard was developedThe role of compromise in international standardsGrant Purdy's perspective on different philosophies of modern risk managementThis extract is taken from the full CPD-accredited RiskMasters conversation with Grant Purdy exploring ISO 31000, risk management, uncertainty, risk matrices, governance and better decision-making.Listen to the full conversation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or at aevitium.com.

In this episode of RiskMasters, I speak with Grant Purdy about risk management, uncertainty and the relationship between risk and better decision-making.Grant has spent almost five decades working in risk and decision-making. He was a nominated expert involved in the development of ISO 31000, contributed to ISO Guide 73 and helped shape ISO/IEC 31010.He is also co-author, with the late Roger Estall, of Deciding, a practical guide designed to help people make better decisions.Our conversation examines how risk management has evolved, why Grant believes parts of the profession have become disconnected from decision-making, and what boards, executives and risk professionals can do differently.“Certainty is a total illusion. It can never be achieved. Sufficient certainty is as good as we can get.” – Grant Purdy🎯 What You Will LearnWhy risk management should ultimately improve decision-makingHow to make decisions without waiting for impossible certaintyWhy identifying and monitoring assumptions strengthens governanceWhere risk matrices and risk appetite can create false confidenceHow AI can support judgement without replacing accountability🕒 Episode Highlights01:23 - What ISO 31000 was originally trying to achieveGrant traces the development of ISO 31000 from AS/NZS 4360 and explains why creating useful information for decision-making was central to the original approach.06:03 - Where risk management lost its wayWe discuss the different philosophies that emerged around risk management and why Grant believes the profession needs to reconnect risk with decision support.10:29 - Uncertainty, assumptions and sufficient certaintyGrant explains why decisions require clarity about purpose, opportunity, desired outcomes and the assumptions on which they depend.16:08 - The danger of seeking certaintyWhy waiting for complete information can produce analysis paralysis, missed opportunities and delayed action.21:10 - What risk matrices can and cannot tell usGrant explains why a useful prioritisation tool can become misleading when organisations treat it as a form of quantitative analysis.24:20 - Governance, regulation and decision-makingA provocative discussion about the relationship between standards, regulation and consultancy, and why governance should ultimately be concerned with how decisions are made.32:49 - Why well-governed organisations still make poor decisionsWe explore unclear purpose, hidden assumptions, predetermined outcomes, insufficient challenge and weak monitoring.36:49 - AI and the future of decision supportGrant considers how AI can broaden context, challenge bias and surface assumptions, alongside the dangers of allowing technology to substitute for human judgement.41:01 - The future of the risk professionWhy Grant believes risk professionals should broaden their capabilities and become facilitators of better organisational decisions.44:02 - Better decisions begin with purposeGrant closes with the principle at the heart of his approach to decision-making.🎧 Listen now on:Apple Podcasts: [ADD LINK]Spotify: [ADD LINK]Other platforms available👤 About Grant PurdyGrant Purdy has almost five decades of experience working in risk management and decision-making. He chaired the Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand risk management committee for ten years and was a nominated expert involved in developing ISO 31000.Grant on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grant-purdy-4ba1925/Learn more about Deciding: https://www.sufficientcertainty.com/book📚 Related ResourcesFrom Approval to Impact: Repositioning Risk Appetite Strategic Uncertainty Governance Risk Impact Assessment: What Actually Drives Decision Quality When Delay Changes the Decision Itself 🎓 Download your CPD certificate:The CPD Group - Accreditation: #501335

How do leaders move from recognising a Gray Rhino to actually doing something about it?In this RiskMasters — The Download, Michele Wucker, author of The Gray Rhino and You Are What You Risk, explains the five stages of the Gray Rhino framework and how they can help leaders assess where they are in responding to visible, high-impact risks.The five stages are denial, muddling, diagnosing, panic and action.Michele explains why diagnosing represents an important shift. Rather than simply acknowledging the risk, leaders begin asking how quickly it is developing, how significant it could become, what solutions are available, what resources are required and who needs to be involved.The framework also considers where other stakeholders sit within those five stages. A response may depend on people who have not yet recognised the urgency of the risk or who lack the authority to act.The conversation explores why panic can be a double-edged sword. It can finally create momentum, but it can also lead to poor decisions. Having a plan matters, but so do the mechanisms and decision authority required to implement it.Michele also introduces the idea of a “crash of rhinos”, where several significant risks interact or arrive together, alongside smaller “baby rhinos” that may develop into larger threats.The five stages of the Gray Rhino frameworkHow leaders move from recognition and diagnosis to actionWhy stakeholders may be at different stages of respondingHow panic can lead to action but also poor decisionsWhy multiple risks can develop into a “crash of rhinos”The Gray Rhino framework provides a practical way for risk leaders to assess not only the risks they face, but how prepared their organisations and key stakeholders are to respond. Effective action requires diagnosis, planning, decision authority, and continued tracking and adjustment.This extract is taken from the full RiskMasters conversation with Michele Wucker on the Gray Rhino, risk management, behavioural risk and strategic decision-making.Listen to the full RiskMasters episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or at aevitium.com.

Risk culture, cultural differences, leadership, and risk management are closely connected to how people perceive and respond to risk.In this RiskMasters — The Download segment, Horst Simon draws on his international experience to explore how cultural worldviews influence risk behaviour inside organisations. He discusses three broad perspectives, guilt versus innocence, honour versus shame, and power versus fear, and explains why organisations operating across cultures need to consider these differences when developing risk policies and processes.The conversation also explores how generational differences influence attitudes towards work, organisations, mobility, and risk, creating another important consideration for leaders building an effective risk culture.Listeners will gain insight into:• How cultural differences can influence risk management decisions• Why the same risk policy may be interpreted differently across cultures• How cultural worldviews shape attitudes towards responsibility and consequences• Why generational differences matter when building risk culture• How global organisations can consider human behaviour within risk frameworksThis extract is taken from the full RiskMasters interview with Horst Simon on risk culture, people risk, leadership, operational risk, and the future of risk management, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and at aevitium.com.