For years, I sat by threat administration conferences that made me need to depart the occupation. The sample was all the time the identical. Sponsors paid for cubicles. Sponsors acquired talking slots. And all of the sudden the agenda was stuffed with displays about software program options or dealer nonsense that had nothing to do with making higher selections or threat administration. The content material was empty. The journey was exhausting. And I stored considering: why does it must be this fashion?
I didn’t need to journey anyway. And the entire mannequin felt backwards – the gross sales folks funding the occasion managed what acquired mentioned, which meant the conversations we really wanted to have by no means occurred. The answer appeared apparent: take it on-line. Lower out the sponsors. Fund it myself. Discuss what really works. The issue was discovering expertise that might deal with it. For years, I regarded for a platform that wouldn’t break the bank and will really ship a superb expertise for 1000’s of individuals. In 2019, I lastly discovered one – a startup that had constructed precisely what I wanted.
So I reached out to the folks I’d been studying from. Doug Hubbard. Norman Marks. Sam Savage. Grant Purdy. The consultants who understood that threat administration wasn’t about sustaining registers or filling out warmth maps. Those who’d been educating RM2 earlier than I referred to as it RM2. I requested them to talk. They stated sure.
Threat Consciousness Week launched in October 2019. Over 3,000 folks from 120 nations confirmed up. I used to be shocked.
Ask RAW@AI about this put up or simply discuss threat administration
I by no means considered RAW as “my” convention. From day one, it was one thing else – a gathering place for individuals who knew the normal strategy wasn’t working however had nowhere to construct an alternate. We didn’t discuss ERM, GRC, ESG. We didn’t fake that scoring methods may flip subjective judgment into goal knowledge. We didn’t observe frameworks simply because a regular stated we must always. As an alternative, we centered on chance, choice science, proof, and outcomes that could possibly be measured. RAW grew to become what I can solely describe as a refuge. Not within the sense of hiding, however within the sense of getting area to query issues with out being advised you’re not a “actual” threat skilled. A spot the place your concepts needed to maintain up on their advantage, not in your job title or the dimensions of your organization.
What stunned me was how hungry folks have been for this. They got here again. They introduced colleagues. They shared case research with precise numbers: reducing insurance coverage prices by 60% whereas tripling protection, saving $3 million by correct threat evaluation. Not theoretical enhancements. Actual cash. Actual selections. Six years later, the numbers inform a narrative I didn’t count on: greater than 20,000 contributors, over 270 workshops, audio system who return 12 months after 12 months as a result of the dialog issues to them. Our YouTube channel has many of the workshops out there totally free – we hit the Silver Play Button threshold, which nonetheless feels surreal – as a result of I by no means needed data to be locked behind paywalls.
In 2024, FERMA named RAW the Coaching & Training Programme of the Yr. What mattered to me wasn’t the award itself, however what they acknowledged: that we have been educating sensible abilities folks may use instantly. No elaborate frameworks. Simply choice science that works. That very same 12 months, I launched RAW@AI. I taught it utilizing the whole lot we’d constructed – my articles, our movies, all of the workshops. In its first three months, it supported over 50,000 threat analyses throughout dozens of nations. The concept was easy: make structured threat administration accessible to anybody making selections, while not having consultants or costly software program.
Right here’s what I’ve discovered: issues survive after they show themselves helpful. Concepts that work take root. Concepts that don’t, fade away. RM2 has survived as a result of it delivers outcomes. RAW has survived as a result of it gave RM2 someplace to develop – not by credentials or advertising and marketing, however by folks making use of the concepts, seeing what occurred, and coming again to share what they discovered. The dangers we’re coping with now are extra tangled than they have been six years in the past. Extra interconnected. Crises emerge from locations no person’s watching. Previous options fail extra ceaselessly. Which suggests we want areas like RAW extra, not much less. It’s probably not a convention anymore. It’s develop into one thing nearer to infrastructure – a spot the place the occupation can check concepts, be taught from what works, and hold shifting with out being chained to “how we’ve all the time executed it.”
I hate utilizing the phrase “ecosystem” as a result of it seems like enterprise jargon. However the idea matches: RAW works as a result of folks discover worth, contribute what they’ve discovered, and the entire thing adapts and grows. Not by design, however by pure choice. So long as we keep centered on what really works – not what sounds spectacular in a presentation or appears good in a framework – this may hold going.
Threat Consciousness Week 2025 runs 13–17 October. Full program and registration: https://2025.riskawarenessweek.com
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