ABSTRACT
Organisational cultural leadership must come right from the very top of the organisation. I was once asked my advice regarding how to implement risk analysis into an organisation. Should there be an organisation-wide training course? Would there be a benefit if there was a help desk? There were lots of alternative suggestions. My response was simple. The culture needed to be changed such that it was understood that risk analysis would be required at each project and bid review. The solution was easily implemented. We advised the CEO to ask one question: “Where is the S-curve?” If the necessary work had been done to generate an S-curve with Monte Carlo analysis, which could be explained, then the change in culture had been achieved. There were a few projects that came forward for review by the CEO that thought they could circumvent the new requirement, but after being pushed back they and other projects got the message that adherence to the rules was not negotiable. This consequently generated a demand for help and support from the cost engineering function to support satisfying the new analysis requirement. In this example, strong leadership from the very top of the organisation drove positive change within that organisation.
