Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Risk Realism
When it comes to risk management, pessimism and optimism have their roles, but it's best to aim for realism. Here are five steps.
“We need a proper balance between both perspectives, allowing trade-offs between threats and opportunities, in order to give us the best possible chance of achieving our goals,” says risk management consultant David Hillson, PMP. “In place of pessimism or optimism, we need to aim for realism.” He recommends the following steps to ensure realism in our approach to managing risk:
> Value different perspectives. Encourage and use input from both pessimists and optimists. We need to listen to people who warn us about what might go wrong, as they may have seen something that we have missed. We should also allow people to explore possible upsides that could result in unplanned gains.
> Include peer challenge in the risk process. The role of devil’s advocate can be very useful in testing established attitudes to risk. Give someone the role of asking naï…
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