All of us are more or less aware of certain risks. The purpose of life is managing risk. Risk is in front of us and risk management is in the very fabric of our daily lives. The risk manager’s poem goes… (Frago, R., 2015.Plan to Schedule, Schedule to PlanRisk)
There will be risks in all you do,
In bed or on the road.
Opportunity or threat to you,
Control them if you could.
Opportunity comes with some threats,
We often do not see.
Don’t be in haste to celebrate,
What seems like victory!
We are all risk managers! Risk management is the only thing we do for a living, the very reason why our company or client pays us, the reason why we go to work every day. We manage risk even as we prepare to go to sleep, to increase probability that we wake up the next day healthy and refreshed. The amazing thing is, we don’t even realize it!
In this sense, we are all risk managers as we support our very existence. We survive each daily rigors because we are already unconsciously competent of what we do through years of experience and training.
If for some reason we are unable to appreciate this intriguing concept of oneness of purpose, then I guess we are all familiar with risk, but we still really do not know it well enough.
It simply means that risk should be the main contemplation by anyone while keeping an eye to achieving objectives. Risk is a primary concern in pursuit of a goal.
Risk is not only a factor or featured element of management. It is the main character at play. Risk-based management gives importance to objectives. Failing to mitigate the risk means failure to meet the objective/s.
What I am driving at is the concept that all categories of management are risk-based management. Project Management, by virtue of the first premise becomes Risk Management. When we take care of ourselves, or our projects, we are managing risks. We do it all the time because it is a very risky world out there.
Many great concepts come from various directions, with some lines meeting to create similar points and some diverging and contrasting. This is where management, risk management, and risk-based management meet.
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Rufran C. Frago, P. Eng., PMP, CCP, PMI-RMP, Author
https://www.amazon.com/author/rufrancfrago