108 - Why Risk Management? Future You Will Thank You

Project Management Happy Hour

Why bother with risk management when you can just deal with problems as they happen? In this episode, Kim and Kate dig into the heart of that question—and the answer might just save your future self a world of pain.

You’ll hear:

• Hard-hitting stats: 1 in 6 projects go 200% over budget (Harvard Business Review), 17% of major IT projects threaten company survival (McKinsey), and why 69% of projects don’t succeed.

• Firefighting vs. fire prevention: why controlled burns (boring, thankless prep) prevent disasters while the “heroes” just put out fires.

• ROI of risk management: the surprising 20:1 return on time spent planning versus cleaning up issues later.

• Language hacks: how swapping “risks” for “obstacles” (credit to Dr. Josh Ramirez) can get your team—and executives—on board.

• Practical techniques: from whiteboarding failure points to slicing your project into risk categories, simple ways to start risk management without drowning in templates.

Whether you’re a seasoned PM or just tired of project disasters, this episode shows why risk management isn’t about doom and gloom—it’s about giving future you a fighting chance.

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