52 Risks® Update (October 2021): Never Do a Large Project (Am I Serious …?), Top 10 Construction Projects That Broke the Bank, AICD’s Guide to Climate Risk Governance, Top 10 Free Risk Resources, Risk Management Jobs in the Fasting Growing Jobs in the Next Decade, and more
Never Do a Large Project (Am I Serious…?)
Everyone is now dreaming of getting on a plane and travelling again. For the owners of Berlin’s Brandenburg airport, they dream of finally having planes and passengers at their new airport. It’s over a year since it opened. Unfortunately, it opened in the midst of the worst pandemic in a century, 10 years’ late and three times over budget (EUR7bn final cost vs EUR2bn initial budget).
Airports are, by definition, large projects. And large projects have a habit of going awry. The City of Berlin and the German government clearly learned this with the ill-fated Berlin Brandenburg airport. This case study provides a more detailed outline of what went wrong. It also has some interesting observations and conclusions on the management of risk in large infrastructure projects.
I was once asked what I had learned from being involved in a particularly large project that was significantly over time and over budget. In my most sincere tone, I replied ‘never do a large project’.
Top 10 Construction Projects That Broke the Bank
From Venice’s ill-fated MOSE project to prevent flooding on the canals to the Channel Tunnel linking the UK and Europe, there is no shortage of large, problematic projects. This link has the 10 biggest ones.
Major Project Risk is a key strategic risk in the 52 Risks® framework.
AICD’s Guide to Climate Risk Governance
The Australian Institute of Company Directors has been at the forefront of best practice governance and risk management for many years. To assist directors, they recently released a practical guide to climate risk governance. It is a great guide for any business leader or professional wanting to learn more about climate change risk and the governance issues to consider.
You can download the guide for free here.
Top 10 Free Risk Resources
There is a wealth of information available on enterprise risk management, economics, and business. I have compiled my top ten list of free government, academic and not for profit resources on that can provide business leaders with insights and tools to better identify, assess and manage risk.
Click through to the page on 52 Risks here for the full details.
The list includes links to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report page, the World Bank’s economics and research pages, COSO’s Enterprise Risk Management website and seven more free resources.
And don’t forget to check out the free tools and guides in the 52 Risks® Resources Centre.
Risk Management Jobs in the Fasting Growing Jobs in the Next Decade
A recent chart from the Visual Capitalist highlighted the expected continued growth in risk management roles in the decade ahead. Reflecting the importance of data analytics and information security, three roles inextricably linked to – and enabling – business growth and sound risk management feature in the top 10 roles: statisticians, information security analysts, and data scientists/mathematical science occupations.
It is clearly important for policy makers, universities, and businesses to accelerate plans to meet this skill requirement. You can read the full list of the fastest growing (and declining) jobs over the next decade here.
