By Dr Gavriel Schneider
Living in a VUCAD World
We live in a VUCAD world: volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, and digitised. Global supply chain shocks, political instability, polarising social ideologies, pandemics, climate disruptions, cyber-attacks, and AI-driven transformations have converged to create an environment where change is relentless and disruption is the norm rather than the exception.
In such conditions, traditional approaches to risk management—largely built on compliance checklists, static probability equations, and siloed departmental responsibilities—are no longer enough. These methods often create an illusion of security: risk registers are maintained, compliance reports are submitted, policies exist on paper, yet when the real-world shock comes, organisations still find themselves exposed and unprepared.
The real challenge is not a lack of frameworks. It is that risk management fails when it is not embedded into the culture of the organisation.
This is where risk culture becomes the decisive factor in whether organisations stumble during disruption or thrive through it.
Why Risk Culture is Crucial
At its core, risk culture is the shared values, beliefs, norms, and behaviours that shape how individuals and groups perceive and act on risk. It determines how organisations approach uncertainty, make decisions, both in business as usual as well as under pressure, and balance opportunity with control.
Some observed examples include:
- A technically sound financial model won’t save an organisation if staff make decisions based on short-term gain rather than sustainable practice.
- A compliance-heavy safety regime can still fail if frontline workers feel they cannot speak up about hazards.
- A world-class innovation strategy will falter if leaders ignore ethical considerations, eroding trust with stakeholders.
Culture is the engine that makes risk management real. Without it, risk practices remain theoretical and brittle or at best only work and add value ‘some of the time’. With a robust risk enabled culture, organisations develop resilience, agility, and the capacity to turn disruption into opportunity (Presilience).
Introducing the Risk Culture Standard
Recognising the need for a common and practical framework, my colleagues and I—including Jack Jones, Dr Paul Johnston, Christopher Stitt, and Amanda Barber—developed the first Open Global Standard on Risk Culture.
This standard not only integrates with established frameworks such as ISO 31000, COSO ERM, and sector-specific models, but it goes further by embedding risk into organisational culture. It was designed for broad applicability—whether in government, finance, healthcare, education, manufacturing, small business, or non-profits.
Here’s why the standard is such a valuable tool for organisations of all sizes and across all sectors:
- It Creates a Common Language – Risk and Culture are often fragmented: boards, regulators, managers, and staff interpret it differently. The standard provides clear definitions and concepts, ensuring alignment from the executive suite to the frontline.
- It Provides a Measurable Framework – The Risk Culture Maturity Model allows organisations to benchmark their current state, identify gaps, and progress from reactive and ad hoc practices to high-performing, risk-embedded cultures.
- It Identifies the Ten Dimensions of Risk Culture – These include leadership, governance, ethics, risk intelligence, decision-making, communication, technology, people engagement, alignment with frameworks, and change management. Together they form a holistic system for embedding risk culture.
- It Bridges Compliance and Performance – The standard reframes risk management from being a bureaucratic exercise to being a strategic enabler—driving innovation, trust, and sustained performance.
Building Risk Intelligence, Resilience, Elasticity, and Adaptation
The pace of change in today’s world is unlike anything we’ve seen before. Market shocks spread globally in hours. Social movements shift consumer and community expectations in days. AI-driven technologies reshape industries in months.
To remain relevant and sustainable, organisations must embed four critical cultural capabilities:
- Risk Intelligence – Beyond technical expertise, this is the ability to sense, interpret, and act wisely in complex environments. It combines cognitive, emotional, and social intelligence to improve decision-making across all levels.
- Resilience – The ability to absorb shocks and recover is no longer optional. But more importantly, we must cultivate Presilience®—the proactive ability to prevent where possible, prepare for, adapt to, and thrive amidst disruption – creating opportunity out of disruption.
- Elasticity – Elasticity is the capacity to stretch, flex, and recalibrate under pressure without breaking. Organisations with strong elasticity can handle strain, withstand crises, and adjust practices dynamically while maintaining alignment with their core objectives and values. Elastic cultures are not rigidly tied to old ways of working—they bend when needed but retain their integrity, making them stronger over time.
- Adaptation – Organisations must continuously evolve, learning from successes and failures, embedding feedback loops, and recalibrating strategies in real time. Adaptation ensures that culture doesn’t just respond to change but stays ahead of it.
The Risk Culture Standard provides practical guidance on how to embed these traits in real, lived practice, turning them from abstract ideas into operational strengths.
Why All Sectors and Organisations Need This
It is a mistake to assume risk culture is only relevant for large corporations or highly regulated industries.
- Small businesses rely on culture to survive—one poor ethical decision or safety lapse can mean closure.
- Public sector agencies need a strong risk culture to maintain trust, deliver essential services, and manage taxpayer resources responsibly.
- Healthcare and education depend on culture to ensure safety, transparency, and ethical decision-making under immense pressure.
- Multinationals must align diverse teams across geographies, creating consistent standards without stifling local adaptability.
- Non-profits require a risk culture that balances mission-driven goals with the realities of governance, compliance, and sustainability.
In every sector, risk culture is the ultimate leveller. With it, organisations can build trust, resilience, and agility. Without it, even the best technical systems fail under pressure.
Tangible Benefits of Strong Risk Culture
When organisations adopt and apply the Risk Culture Standard, they can expect:
- Improved Decision-Making – Individuals and teams balance intuition with analysis and make ethical, informed choices even under pressure.
- Stronger Stakeholder Trust – through transparent communication and cultural accountability.
- Alignment Across the Organisation – shared understanding reduces silos and conflicting priorities.
- Faster Adaptation – feedback loops and continuous learning allow quick pivots when disruption occurs.
- Competitive and Community Advantage – resilient organisations not only withstand disruption but also seize opportunities earlier than their peers.
A Call to Action
The world will not slow down. Disruption will continue to accelerate, driven by technology, social change, and interconnected risks. The question for leaders is simple: will your organisation be reactive, or will it be presilient—ready to adapt, thrive, and lead?
Risk culture is no longer a ‘nice to have.’ It is the foundation upon which resilience, innovation, and trust are built.
The new Global Standard on Risk Culture provides a practical, measurable, and open resource for organisations of all sizes and across all sectors. It sets benchmarks, offers tools, and creates the common language needed to make risk culture a lived reality.
For business leaders, policymakers, educators, healthcare providers, community organisations, and entrepreneurs alike, the message is clear: risk culture is the foundation of sustainable success in a VUCAD world.
Dr Gavriel Schneider is a global thought leader in risk, resilience, and security, the creator of the Presilience® methodology, and a co-author of the Global Open Standard on Risk Culture.
