When my sons were in their early teens, we would play the game of “Risk.” The game’s objective was for a player to dominate the world on the game board. Your armies consisted of infantry, Calvary, and artillery. (The fact that I really own a horse did not give me a leg (or hoof) up. The boys were good and they conspired against me. I could not measure the risks in my tactics, good or bad risks.
The game risk could be used as a parody for real life business risks. The article, How to Map Your Risks, by Bugalla and Kallman focused on such risk management. The authors enhanced the subject by measuring threats associated with risks (traditional risk management), and opportunities associated with risks (enterprise risk management.)
These approaches are not new. Strategists focus on both (external) opportunities and threats in contexts of a company’s (internal) strenghts and weaknesses. The metrics associated with these risks are steps later in the creation of the strategic plan.
The article suggested a “Value Map” where probability is measured against outcome. The authors use the following color graph:
I would quantify the colors for more accuracy, but the authors draw big circles for “ranges” of risks. This graph would be a useful too for those clients (like entertainers) who are very visual and right brain. Any tool that displays parts of a strategy is a good tool.