Thursday, May 19, 2011

Path Not Point

by Rick Nason, PhD, CFA

Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

www.RSDsolutions.com

info@RSDsolutions.com 

 

When conducting risk workshops, or risk implementations for organizations, the question that frequently comes up is “when will we know when we have arrived as a best practice risk firm?”  It is a natural question to ask as managers always want to know when they have a solution to an issue nailed down.

 

The response however catches people by surprise.  The response is “you won’t”, and the reason that you won’t is that risk management is a path not a point.  Risk management is always developing and evolving.  There is no end point. 

 

That may be seen as discouraging, but it should be seen as encouraging.  For those willing to keep moving along the path it means competitive advantages as too many organizations want to rest on their laurels at achieving a point.  Other organizations do not have the discipline to stick to long term achievement.  Still others keep looking for the mythical short-term fix.

 

Recognizing that risk management is a path and not a point is one key to risk management becoming a solid cornerstone of competitive advantage.

 

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