Mastering Multi-Dimensional Risk with the Risk Doctor

Risk management touches every aspect of our professional and personal lives, yet it remains one of the most misunderstood disciplines in business today. From boardrooms to project sites, organizations struggle with how to identify, assess, and respond to the uncertainties that could make or break their objectives. We dive deep into the world of multidimensional risk management with Dr. David Hillson, internationally known as "The Risk Doctor."

The article includes extracts of the interview with Dr. David Hillson from Jowanza's podcast - Industrial Risk: Beyond the Blueprint.

About Dr. David Hillson: The Risk Doctor

Dr. David Hillson, known globally as "The Risk Doctor," has spent over three decades demystifying risk management for organizations worldwide. With more than 15 books,briefings, and consulting work across 60+ countries spanning industries from energy and mining to aerospace, he has built his reputation on transforming complex risk concepts into practical tools that actually work. His work extends beyond traditional risk identification to encompass advanced methodologies for cultural transformation and opportunity management. 

We share insights from The Risk Doctor’s extensive experience, revealing common misconceptions that hold organizations back, and provide frameworks that any leader can implement immediately. Whether you're managing projects, running a business, or simply trying to make better decisions under uncertainty, Dr. Hillson offers valuable perspectives on how to navigate risk more effectively.

The Fundamental Misconception: Risk is Everyone's Responsibility

Jowanza: Let's start with what you see as the biggest misconception about risk in industry.

Risk Doctor: The biggest misconception I encounter is when people say "risk management isn't my job—there's someone else who takes care of that." This couldn't be further from the truth. Managing risk is fundamentally a life skill. It's how we stay alive day to day, how the human species has survived. Risk management is everybody's job because risk affects the things that matter to each of us, and we all need to manage our own risks.

This fundamental insight reveals the first dimension of modern risk management: universality. Risk management isn't confined to specialist departments or technical experts. It operates across every organizational level, from strategic decision-making to operational execution, from individual choices to collective outcomes.

The Evolution of Risk Thinking: From Process to People Plus Process

Jowanza: Having worked in this field for nearly four decades, what keeps you passionate about it?

Risk Doctor: Risk management genuinely works. It helps us focus on things we weren't previously focusing on, see things we hadn't seen before, and ultimately succeed better—whether in projects, business operations, or even our personal lives.

I think of it as a risk radar that scans the future and shows what's coming toward you. What makes me passionate is seeing organizations, teams, and individuals achieve their goals more effectively, with less stress. People literally sleep better at night. It's tremendously satisfying as a consultant to see clients doing what they need to do, but doing it better.

Understanding the human side—psychology, bias, decision-making, personal motivations—has been crucial. So now it's about people plus process. The scope has also broadened tremendously. We used to focus just on technical project delivery, but now we see risk management applied everywhere: governments, charities, churches, tennis clubs, families. We're dealing with cyber risk, artificial intelligence, big data—things we never dreamed of before. The UN has even recognized existential risk—risks to humanity as a whole.

This evolution reveals the multidimensional nature of modern risk management. Dr. Hillson's journey from process-focused to people-plus-process thinking mirrors the field's maturation from technical discipline to comprehensive organizational capability.

Understanding Risk Levels: Moving Beyond One-Dimensional Thinking 

Traditional risk management operates in limited dimensions—typically focusing on probability and impact. But Dr. Hillson's research reveals that effective risk management requires understanding multiple interconnected dimensions simultaneously: 

• Temporal Dimensions: Past experiences, present conditions, and future possibilities all inform risk assessment. Dr. Hillson's Three Tenses of Risk Identification framework requires organizations to look backward through historical analysis, examine current realities through diagnostic assessment, and project forward using creativity techniques. 

• Stakeholder Dimensions: Different organizational levels perceive and respond to risk differently. Technical teams focus on operational risks, while executive leadership concerns itself with strategic and existential threats. 

• Impact Dimensions: Modern risks don't operate in isolation—they cascade across financial, operational, reputational, regulatory, and strategic domains. Dr. Hillson's Risk Management Handbook addresses 24 distinct risk specializations, each requiring tailored approaches while maintaining integration. 

• Cultural Dimensions: Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Hillson's pioneering A-B-C Risk Culture Model reveals how attitudes shape behaviors, which form culture—creating feedback loops that either amplify or diminish organizational risk capability. 

  
  

Traditional risk management operates under the false premise that all risk is negative. This approach creates what Dr. Hillson terms "risk paralysis"—organizations become so focused on preventing problems that they miss opportunities for breakthrough performance. 

Instead of asking "How do we eliminate uncertainty?" the question becomes "Which uncertainties should we embrace, and how do we navigate them effectively?" This paradigm shift from risk avoidance to intelligent risk-taking represents the core of multidimensional risk management. 

The Seven Questions Framework: Simplicity Within Complexity 

Jowanza: You've developed many frameworks, but I'd like to focus on your seven-question approach. Can you walk us through that?

Risk Doctor: My motto is "understand profoundly so you can explain simply." Risk management can seem highly technical, but the real job of an expert is translating deep thinking into something anyone can understand and use. So I distilled the entire risk process into seven common-sense questions.

The Seven Questions Framework:

• What are we trying to do? (defining objectives)

• What could affect us? (identifying risks)

• Which are the big ones? (prioritizing risks)

• What could we do about it? (response planning)

• Did that work? (reviewing effectiveness)

• What's changed? (updating assessments)

• Who should we tell? (communicating findings)

Each question naturally leads to the next, creating the complete risk management process without using any jargon. You don't need to remember technical terms—just ask these logical questions in sequence.

Risk Appetite: The Physical Appetite Analogy 

Dr. Hillson demystifies one of risk management's most confusing concepts through the analogy. Risk appetite represents an internal drive to take risks to achieve goals. But being internal, it remains abstract until expressed through measurable risk thresholds. We can use dollars, time, or other measurable thresholds to express that internal appetite. 

The Risk Mindset Development 

Core Characteristics of the Risk Mindset: 

• Objective Focus: Understanding that risk only matters in relation to what you're trying to achieve; 

• Personal Responsibility: Recognizing that "my risk is my responsibility"; 

• Proactive Orientation: Rejecting wishful thinking in favor of deliberate action.

Developing the Risk Mindset requires intentional practice through five key strategies: 

1. Building New Thinking Habits: Systematic practice until risk-aware thinking becomes automatic. 

2. Developing Emotional Intelligence: Self-awareness and emotional regulation in uncertain situations. 

3. Using Multiple Reminders: Environmental cues that prompt risk-aware decision-making. 

4. Getting Expert Support: Coaches and mentors who can accelerate mindset development.

5. Being Intentional: Deliberately choosing to develop risk-aware capabilities.

Flipping the Risk Perspective

Dr. Hillson's "Good Luck Workshop" represents a sophisticated application of cognitive diversity in risk management. By switching from threat-focused to opportunity-focused thinking, the workshop accessed different cognitive processes and unlocked creative solutions that traditional risk analysis couldn't reach. 

This whimsical reframing unleashed innovative thinking that traditional risk analysis couldn't access. The breakthrough came when engineers realized that underwater research stations represent exactly what they needed: human-sustaining environments in hostile conditions where outside survival is impossible. 

The case demonstrates several multidimensional principles: 

• Cognitive diversity: Different thinking modes reveal different risk dimensions;

• Perspective switching: Viewing challenges through opportunity lenses unlocks solutions; 

• Cross-domain innovation: Solutions exist in unexpected places when we expand our dimensional thinking. 

How to Approach Risk Beyond Traditional Boundaries? 

Dr. Hillson's work points toward risk management's evolution from a technical discipline to a strategic capability. Organizations that master multidimensional approaches will find themselves better positioned to: 

• Navigate increasing complexity with confidence rather than fear;

• Identify and exploit opportunities that competitors miss due to a narrow risk focus;

• Build resilient, adaptive capabilities that thrive during disruption;

• Create cultures where intelligent risk-taking drives innovation and growth.

The future belongs to organizations that integrate risk thinking across all dimensions—temporal, stakeholder, impact, and cultural. This integration requires sophisticated frameworks, such as those Dr. Hillson has developed. Still, more importantly, it requires leaders who understand that risk management is a strategic advantage disguised as a defensive necessity. 

The choice facing leaders today isn't whether to manage risk—uncertainty will affect their organizations regardless. The choice is whether to develop multidimensional capabilities that transform uncertainty into advantage or rely on outdated approaches that limit potential while providing little real protection. 

Dr. Hillson's frameworks provide the roadmap. The transformation begins with understanding that risk management, properly conceived, is about enabling success rather than preventing failure. 

Summary

Remember, risk management is everyone's job, and it's about taking the right risks safely to achieve what matters most to you.

The Risk Doctor's prescription for effective risk management combines profound understanding with simple application—exactly what organizations need to navigate our multidimensional, uncertain world successfully. His multidimensional frameworks provide the foundation for transforming risk management from defensive necessity into competitive advantage. 

Resource Recommendations 

Dr. David Hillson's work can be found at risk-doctor.com and through his extensive video library on YouTube. His approach to making risk management accessible and actionable has helped organizations worldwide navigate uncertainty more effectively while pursuing their most important objectives.

Watch the whole interview on Risk Doctor's YouTube channel:

🎧 You can also listen to the conversation in Jowanza's podcast - Industrial Risk: Beyond the Blueprint.