I once facilitated a board risk retreat for a fast-growing financial services firm. They had just crossed the 500 billion shilling mark in assets. Celebration everywhere. Balloons. Banners. Speeches.
But I noticed something odd in the boardroom. Every risk they mentioned was either on their risk register or in their last audit report. Not one board member asked, “What are we blind to?”
I asked the members to reflect: “What if your biggest risk isn’t in the room? What if it is the thing you are not talking about because it is invisible to your current systems?”
That is the danger. We confuse known problems with true risk. Real risk is like carbon monoxide. Odourless. Colourless. But lethal.
I once helped a health sector agency that had strong anti-fraud controls. But one junior officer siphoned funds undetected for 4 years.
Why? Everyone trusted her. She smiled. Never took leave. The audit only checked transactions above a certain threshold.
Their risk? Not fraud. Blind trust.
When I dive into organizations, I do not ask for the risk register first. I ask for stories. Near misses. Whispers. Staff complaints.
That is where you find real risk. Here is your leadership tool:
“What if your biggest risk isn’t in the room? What if it is the thing you are not talking about because it is invisible to your current systems?”
Mr Strategy’s Blindspot Risk Test
a) Ask each EXCO member privately, “What risk keeps you up at night but you feel is too awkward to raise in a meeting?”
b) Next, ask three junior staff from different units, “What is the one thing you think management is ignoring?”
c) Finally, ask yourself, “If I were fired today, what would my successor fix first?”
That is your real risk. Now, address it.
Mr. Strategy
