The Human Hub: Collaboration and Risk Assessment

This month I want to focus on collaboration and risk assessment. Do those go together you might ask? Well…yes in my view.

Risk assessment needs to undergo an overhaul...

Organisations have long gotten overwhelmed with risk assessment methods and compliance-based approaches that take away from individuals the concept of living with risk, considering materiality, adapting and understanding that some risks are already issues. If you consider climate-related risks, most of them are already in evidence. 

We can no longer mitigate against them – now we need to treat the reality, adapt where we can, repair and regenerate, and hope that the end outcome is something liveable and survivable. 

But our controls are shaky, our influence isn’t maximised and our understanding of what comes later filled with unproven assumptions and fear. We must turn that around – people, humans, we cannot operate sensibly and compassionately when living in fear, our decision-making quality drops when we’re paralysed by despair.

Collaboration on the other hand...

That needs to grow, take root, diversify and mature. Collaboration helps mitigate and adapt to risks sure, but collaboration also helps you view risks and issues in a different light. An unlikely risk for you and your organisation can simultaneously be a hulking great disastrous reality for another. Lets take the concept of health inequalities – for indigenous people, for poorer people, for people born in different countries – those health inequalities aren’t a risk, they’re how they’re lives are shaped, changed and shortened every day. If you’re a health provider, collaborating with your patients can bring into stark relief the fact that you’re already mis-managing live issues, rather than say ‘putting in place levers to reduce the risk of inequality’.  

Collaboration also does something else:

It opens your mind, it sparks inspiration, it gives you a sense of connection and belonging, and it challenges you. Organisations that collaborate formally and informally with communities, with other organisations, with regional counterparts – they’re better for it. Its not necessarily comfortable, but its more than the sum of the individual parts. Its more than one point of view, one approach, one set of capabilities, one span of capacity.

And having access to, understanding of and leverage from more than the sum of your own organisation, your own brain, your way of thinking – well that makes you more resilient when risks eventuate.

The montage below illustrates just some of the podcast conversations Jules has had with various guests involving elements of risk assessment and collaboration.

If you’d like to talk about a different approach to thinking about risks, or some help to identify opportunities for strength through collaboration – book a free online chat with Jules today.  

Jules would also like to hear from you if you’re interested in co-designing a new approach to risk assessment and value measurements for organisations grappling with sustainability, regeneration and the next stage of transformative models. Reach out here

Thank you for reading our blog post! We hope you found it informative and engaging. If you enjoyed our content, we have more to offer through our podcast and monthly newsletter. Here's how you can stay connected and get even more value from Humans at Work.

Book Jules as a speaker: you can book Jules to speak at your event, be a panelist or to come and talk to your organisation - either online or in person.  Book a free initial conversation via Calendly: https://calendly.com/jules-jhaconsulting/speaking-event-preparation 

Support us: consider supporting us on Ko-fi here if you liked this content.  This will help us continue celebrating diverse humans and our collective ability to improve social equity and environmental regeneration through individual, organisational and system-level change!

Check out our Podcast here: Listen to other human stories and hear how their unique personalities and experiences have shaped them. These fireside chats illustrate how joyous it is to engage with another person, to be curious, and to recognise the value they bring just by being there.

Sign up to the Human Hub: Stay up-to-date with the latest Humans at Work newsletter. By joining the human hub, you'll receive regular updates delivered straight to your inbox. We value your privacy and promise not to spam you! To sign up, fill out the subscription form on our website.

Connect on LinkedIn: Follow Jules via Jules' LinkedIn.  And don't forget to join the conversation by following Humans at Work on Linkedin, to get real-time updates and engage with other like-minded individuals. 

Jules and the Humans at Work team greatly appreciate your support, and look forward to connecting with you!