Ep. 199: Grant Purdy - On Deciding and Why We Need to Drop 'Risk Management'

The All Things Risk Podcast

In this episode, I have the honour of welcoming Grant Purdy to the show. Grant, for those of you who may not have heard of him, has a 40+ year career in helping decision-makers make great decisions. This has involved enabling great conversations, and providing sufficient certainty to decision-makers in the achievement of their intended outcomes.

Grant is also considered one of the ‘founders’ of the thing commonly referred to as ‘risk management’, having co-wrote the world’s first risk management standard in the 1990s and later, ISO 31000, the best-known risk management standard. As you will hear however, the practice of traditional risk management has turned into something that has nothing to do with decision-making. It has become, according to Grant, a ‘millstone’ around the necks of organisations and something akin to a religious belief system together with sacred artefacts and evangelists. It’s something we need to drop, he says. If you work professionally in risk management, I urge you to listen and reflect on this.

If you don’t work in traditional risk management, you are still a decision-maker. Therefore, you are the person for whom Grant and his co-author, the late Roger Estall wrote Deciding – A Guide to Even Better Decision-Making. Grant provides us with a number of insights from the book.

Sadly, Roger passed away the day before we recorded this episode. Grant opens with a lovely tribute to Roger who perhaps saved more lives than any other New Zealander through his work. Deepest condolences go out to Rogers’s family, friends, and everyone who knew and worked with him.

Show notes:

Sufficient Certainty

Deciding – A Guide to Even Better Decision-Making

Vale Roger Estall

The risk management ‘millstone’

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