There’s a Snake in the Grass!

I hate snakes.

It is the closest thing I have to a phobia. But growing up in Australia means learning to live with them.

I arrived at Greens Pool on a summer vacation with my two children and their twin cousins the other day – one of the world’s greatest beaches.

The four kids were in charge of setting up the new sunshade which was a Christmas present for my sister.

They were ahead of me getting down the stairs to the beach and immediately started setting up the sunshade at the foot of the staircase – so I suggested they move further up the beach to avoid the steady stream of holiday makers coming and going.

They headed towards the grassy sand dunes and immediately went back to work on the sunshade. I noticed people starting to stand up and move – some slowly, some very quickly – away from the grass near the dunes.

One family was walking back from a swim to their picnic area and were surprised by a black snake under one of their towels. The snake had followed a mouse under the towel.

That started what was a case study in operational risk management.

Nearly everyone on that crowded beach (just like in organisations) had a different perception of the risk.

There are four ways to mitigate an operational risk:

1.      Avoid

2.      Reduce

3.      Transfer

4.      Accept

In the first group were people packing up their picnics and towels at speed and heading back up the stairs – maybe never to return! Option 1: Avoiding the risk.

Some families were in the second camp – and calmly re-locating away from the dunes and the snake’s last known location. Reduce the risk: Option 2.

One man had invested time and effort digging his sun umbrella into the sand right next to the grassy dunes. He was committed to his preferred location...

He tried to shoo the snake away by throwing some sand in its general direction.

This had no observable impact on the snake and my kids thought it was a laughable and futile strategy. Throwing sand towards a snake is not in the list of four options above to mitigate risk.

The man's partner was much further back from the grass by now and clearly an advocate for option one or two.

My kids were equally curious and excited by the snake. My niece begged me to get my phone to take the video below.

The couple headed to the beach for a swim taking comfort in my kids having now established a snake patrol.

The four kids were now lying on their stomachs – snake like - a few metres from the snake in the grass – and monitoring the situation for the rest of the busy beach.

If the snake re-emerged from the grass then the kids would quickly report it.

The couple had gone with Option 3 – transfer the risk… but to the kids!

The kids had assumed responsibility for letting everyone know if the snake went under any other towels while they were swimming in the water.  

The kids had chosen Option 4 – accept the risk: stay and enjoy the beach.

My niece quickly concluded that the snake had now had a juicy mouse for lunch so was probably very happy and satisfied. I wasn’t so sure myself.

So my nephew reminded me that the snake was probably more scared of us than we were of the snake.

I told him that was something adults liked to tell kids. But I was definitively more scared of snakes than they were of me.

The operational risk management process aims to reduce risk through risk identification, risk assessment, measurement and mitigation, and monitoring and reporting while determining who manages the risk.

These kids had done all that despite my own heightened perception of the risk of the snake in the grass.

They had applied the four principles of Operational Risk Management:

1. Accept risk when benefits outweigh the cost.
2. Accept no unnecessary risk.
3. Anticipate and manage risk by planning.
4. Make risk decisions at the right level.

And by doing so – they helped remind me that we must learn to live life despite there always being a risk of a snake in the grass.

#riskmanagementframework #risk #riskassessment