What do your risk management monsters look like?

When I started working for Colorado Outward Bound my biggest worry was that one of my students would get hurt on a backpacking trip.  I lay awake at night imagining nightmare scenarios: rock fall, lightning, stream crossings, careless students, sprained ankles, broken femurs, helicopter evacuations. I worried constantly between the time I was hired and the day I arrived for training.
 
I felt like a little kid worrying about unseen monsters under my bed.  I didn’t know what they looked like or when they would attack or what they would do, but I knew that dangerous, scary monsters were there – and they were coming to get my students in the Colorado wilderness.
 
Looking back, my fears were completely normal because I did not yet have a framework to define and manage risk.  The monsters I imagined were big and scary and – worst of all – unknown.
 
Then I learned to identify specific hazards.  Once I learned the hazards, I could assess the risks.  Once I understood risks, my co-instructors and I could manage them.  Risks that can be defined and managed are not nearly as scary as the imaginary monster risks under your bed. 

It is worth developing risk management systems to improve your program and calm your mind – and this is an excellent time of year to do just that because risk management learning opportunities abound:

• I am joining two legendary risk management professionals – Steve Smith of Experiential Consulting and Reb Gregg of Outdoor Liability Law – to deliver a series of webinars for the Association for Experiential Education.  Our three webinars will describe the value of risk to outdoor learning, provide systems to identify and manage risk, teach how to create a risk management culture on courses, and finally give tips on how to navigate legal liability.  The series starts November 30th and the cost of the trilogy is $45 for AEE members, $60 for non-members. 
• I posted a new video on the RM101 course (and YouTube) about a fatality that occurred on a teen adventure trip in Hawai’i that you and your colleagues can watch and discuss.
• There is a new risk management discussion group on Facebook that you can join anytime.  Like right now.

 
I can say from experience that risk management monsters are scariest when you ignore them during the day and worry about them at night.  Shine some light on your monsters this month.

What are you afraid of? Share your risk management monsters in the comments below this post for a chance to win FREE enrollment in RM101* ($95 value). 
 
* If you’re already enrolled in the course, think of what a great holiday gift it would be for your boss.  I’ll draw the winner on Tuesday, November 29th- the day right before the world’s greatest risk management webinar trilogy.