Clarifying Some Key Points

As you revise the Risk theme, have a look at the points in this section. For each item, if you read a sentence or two and are sure that you’re already clear on the point and know it, just skip the rest and move on to the next item.

Seeing risk as positive and negative

A dictionary definition of risk is ‘the adverse consequences of future events’. In other words, it’s negative. Risk is normally seen as something bad than can happen. There’s been a move in risk management, which PRINCE2 has reflected, to also consider positive or ‘upside’ risk, which is about good things that can happen. That may sound a bit odd at first. ‘You’re at risk of winning a major prize’ just doesn’t seem to sound right.

A key to understanding positive and negative risk is the word ‘uncertainty’. That word makes it easier to see that something good can happen as well as something bad. The trick in risk management now is to try and limit or prevent the bad stuff, and increase or make certain the good stuff. That’s where the lists of risk actions fit in, one for the downside risks or ‘threats’ and one for the upside risks or ‘opportunities’.

Learning the risk actions for the Foundation

PRINCE2 is horribly complicated when it comes to risk actions – unnecessarily complicated actually, although that’s small comfort when you’ve got to learn them all for the Foundation exam anyway. Different people have different ways of remembering lists of things, but acronyms can be helpful. Here ...

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