A prophets of doom workshop

In the past I have used some pretty dodgy approaches to defining risks in a project, from formal approaches like fault tree analysis through to informal approaches like “the evil genius” and “an international standard for being scared“. So this article is not really a new one. It is more a combination of evil geniuses […]

An international standard for being scared?

I sometimes quote ISO90210 (not a real standard) to represent a common approach that, while often used, is not a formally recognised standard. It is more a common but informal way people approach something. In this case I am looking at how to be scared. Apparently there is a standard approach to being scared that […]

How to use force field analysis

Force field analysis is a good way to analyse the constraints and the drivers of success when leading change, delivering projects or problem solving in general.

A risk register for lazy project teams

I told someone this article was already up on my blog and then realised I never got around to publishing it. Sorry about that. Successful projects are generally successful because of the way they managed their risks; so I generally try to hire lucky project managers and surround them with a team of people who […]

Unusual risk analysis techniques

I think risk management is really cool … and certainly more fun than the alternative. Unfortunately many people find the traditional approaches to analysing risks dry and un-innovative; which is a problem because identification and analysis of risk is actually a creative process. So here are a couple of “unusual” approaches that might work for […]

Risks in IT Operations – some analysis tools

Not long ago an airline (Virgin Blue) had a complete meltdown of their ticketing system and just last week a major Australian bank (NAB) had a full on disaster where they couldn’t pay people money they owed for several days. Both were apparently due to failures in IT operations (IT systems and IT processes) and […]

Risk outrage – look out for falling coconuts

A participant in a workshop alleged that coconuts are more dangerous in some parts of the world than sharks. Apparently he has seen statistics showing that in the South Pacific there are substantially more deaths related to falling coconuts than shark attacks. So at a typical resort by the beach, people will be worried about sharks when in […]