THE PROACTIVE RISK PM WEEKLY

Same Problem, Different Risks

Issue #008

Date: 23 February 2026

Hey there, Reader,

This past month, I was on a weekly project review call when someone brought up the new tool our leadership team built using Claude AI.

I usually stay out of off-topic conversations, but this time I jumped in: "How do I get access to Claude for my daily work?"

My boss explained that only limited licenses were distributed, mostly for the coding capabilities.

I pushed a little: "That's great, but what about the project management features? Building presentations, trend analysis, Gantt charts, keeping logical flow across multiple projects?"

That's when he said something that stopped me cold......

Lets Get Proactive Over Reactive!

Quote of the Week

“Leadership offers an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life, no matter what the project.”

- Bill Owens

Story of the Week

"We need to make sure we don't put people out of work with all these capabilities."

I sat there in disbelief. We're not putting people out of work. We're taking the administrative nonsense OUT of work so we can do what we're actually good at, managing projects instead of being slaves to PowerPoint updates and dashboard formatting.

But we were running out of time on a Friday call, and I didn't get the chance to push back.

Walking away from that conversation, I realized something important: We weren't having an AI conversation at all. We were having a risk management conversation.

The Risk Framework Reality

My boss and I were looking at the exact same situation, AI adoption, through completely different risk lenses.

His perspective: Low risk appetite for workforce disruption. High tolerance for current inefficiencies. His threshold? Don't implement anything that might eliminate roles.

My perspective: High risk appetite for competitive advantage. Zero tolerance for drowning in admin work while competitors get ahead. My threshold? We need to act before we lose partnerships because we can't keep up.

Same data. Same organization. Completely different risk frameworks.

This is exactly what trips up PMP and PMI-RMP candidates when they see questions about risk appetite, risk tolerance, and risk thresholds. They think these are just different ways of saying "how much risk we can handle."

But they operate at completely different organizational levels and serve totally different purposes.

Risk appetite is set by senior leadership.....it's the organizational philosophy. My boss was operating from "we're conservative about workforce impact."

Risk tolerance is the program/portfolio level.....how much deviation can we absorb? He could tolerate current inefficiencies but couldn't tolerate potential job displacement.

Risk thresholds are your project-level triggers.....specific points where you must act. His threshold was "don't implement AI that eliminates roles." Mine was "we need AI before we can't compete."

The kicker? We're both right within our own frameworks.

But without understanding these differences, we'll keep having the same "AI conversation" without realizing we're actually debating organizational risk philosophy.

The Bearded PM on YouTube

This week, I'm covering a topic I get asked by students to clarify quite often. I go over the hierarchy of risk appetite, tolerance, and thresholds!

Watch: Risk Appetite vs. Risk Tolerance vs. Risk Threshold (PMP, RMP Exam Prep!)

Please don't forget to "Like" the video and Comment any residual or secondary risks you've have in your projects!

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