Risk Averse Culture
A risk averse culture is frequently presented as the safe end of a spectrum, as though the only failure mode were taking too much risk.
Avoidance costs something too. Decisions get escalated that should have been made locally. Approval steps accumulate until nothing moves quickly. Capable people leave because they cannot act. Opportunities pass by while the assessment is still being completed.
None of that appears in the risk register, because registers record what could go wrong if you act, not what is lost by not acting.
The goal is not less risk. It is knowing which risks you are taking deliberately, at what level each one is accepted, and by whom. An organisation that cannot answer those three questions is not managing risk at all, it is simply avoiding decisions.
ASIC publishes governance guidance. This is general information rather than legal advice, and obligations vary by state and territory.
See Sentrient’s GRC system and risk management system.
Building A Risk-Aware Culture: The 6 Behaviours That Define It
Quick Answer: A risk-aware culture is one where people at every level notice risk, say something about it, and are answered. It is culture working as a control for every other risk you carry. It is not the same as a risk-averse culture, which avoids risk rather than understanding it, and it is not the […]
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