ABSTRACT
It happens almost every time. Someone from a group in the organization will call me or send me email and request help with a risk assessment model or process. When I arrive on the scene, typically there is a conference room full of people to greet me. Folks from all walks of life are gathered — managers, political specialists, economists, engineers, other scientists, environmental specialists, legal counsel, and others. I liken this gathering to the three blindfolded persons and the elephant. If you were to ask these three persons: “Do you have an elephant?” their universal answer would be “Yes, we certainly do.” However, if you asked each person to describe the beast, the one holding the tail would say it is like a rope, the one touching the leg would indicate that it was like a tree trunk, and the one holding the ear would relate that it was like a big flat thing.
