Objects in the Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear
“Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear” is the “warning sign” on your vehicle’s door mirrors. Applying this warning to the risk management space, one can identify Examples of risks that are much closer to your organization (and you) than they may appear to be:
- Artificial Intelligence,
- cybersecurity
- current extreme weather events (climate change) and the potential impact on employees and businesses
- Current Geo-political events (Africa, Russia, India, Israel)
- New and future laws and regulations
I would also like to “tweak” that warning sign and apply it to a risk management reference:
Risks in your rearview mirror may be closer than you think.
A perfect example is in the public health/medical space where once “eradicated,” diseases are again appearing: Scarlet fever, measles, mumps, tuberculosis, and even polio are examples.
I have often said that modern risk management involves viewing risks with both a microscope and a telescope, which means identifying those risks which are close and those beyond the horizon.
But given we may be now operating (living/working) in a permacrises environment which until a few weeks/months ago was referred to as a poly-crises environment, it is apparent that we, as risk practitioners and leaders, must update our risk management processes to ensure risk sources do not blindside us, we must therefore: look forward, look back, look near and look far, I humbly submit.
Stay proactive, anticipatory and resilient.