BarnOwl Info Sharing Insight: Thrive Through Uncertainty: A Different Perspective on Risk Management with Martinus Biemond
Thank you very much Martinus for your thought provoking presentation on ‘Thrive through uncertainty: A different perspective on risk management’ at the BarnOwl info-sharing event held on 31st July 2025. Thank you to all those who attended the session.
A refreshing perspective
Martinus gave us a refreshing perspective on risk management. I have never seen definitions mean so much, when unpacked word-by-word. Most of the time, we read definitions without really thinking about them too much.
The principles of risk management, as unpacked by Martinus, make huge sense, not only from a business perspective but also from a personal perspective.
I loved the word ‘through’ in ‘Thriving through uncertainty’. Through means allowing things (problems, constraints, emotions etc.) to pass through us and not allowing them to get stuck inside of us as immoveable obstacles. Almost like a heart bypass which enables you to survive and thrive rather than blocking an artery and killing you.
How often do we allow our own thought patterns and emotions to bog us down? How many hours do we spend trying to convince others to think the way we do and why we are right? Imagine if we just keep focussing and re-focussing on a common set of objectives (outcomes) without getting bogged down by problems, emotions and needing to be right. This applies to our business lives as well as personal relationships.
A focus on Objectives
For the sake of discussion, let’s assume that the following are worthwhile objectives:
- People: Social responsibility. Understanding that this not just a utopian view but a business imperative. Unhappy people result in instability which will prevent us from operating and will result in us not having anyone to sell our product to.
- Planet: Operating responsibly and doing everything we can to limit the abuse of our planet. Again this is not a utopian view, but is essential for survival, not just for our selfish selves, but for our children and their children.
- Profit (private enterprise): Again a business imperative. A non-profitable business will collapse and be unable to add any value to anyone, such as contributing to society (e.g. employment, taxes, corporate social responsibility etc.). The promise of reward in a business friendly environment is essential to encourage entrepreneurs to take the risk in the first place. Who would not want to be rewarded for taking huge risks, lots and lots of hard work, and for working smartly?
- Service delivery (public office): Again an imperative. This is not just about a job and performing against a mandate to deliver services. This is not even about thriving; it’s about survival for all. Deliver poor quality service for long enough and everyone loses everything as instability (strikes, riots, failed state, anarchy etc.) sets in.
- Economic growth: Creating a better life for all. More employment, means more taxes which means poverty alleviation, better health care, safety & security, less dependency, pride, dignity etc. There may be many differing thoughts on how to achieve economic growth, but if we all agree that this is a critical objective, we will find a way and will all thrive rather than barely survive.
Conclusion
Thank you Martinus for a brilliant and refreshing presentation.
You brought risk management to life in a way that felt both relevant and real — with insights we can apply not just in business, but in our personal lives as well.
Please take a look at the recording to be dazzled by the way Martinus delivers simple, yet powerful messaging on “Thriving Through Uncertainty”.
Please see presentation here, and the info sharing recording here.
Contact us
Cheryl Keller | BarnOwl | cheryl@barnowl.co.za
Martinus Biemond | Founder : MExcellent Consulting Solutions |martinus@mexcellent-consulting.com
Thank you
Once again, thank you Martinus for your time and for your informative presentation and thank you to all those who attended our info sharing session. We look forward to seeing you at our next info sharing session. Please keep a look out for our upcoming events at:
http://www.barnowl.co.za/events/
Kind regards
Jonathan Crisp
Director – BarnOwl GRC and Audit software
About BarnOwl
BarnOwl is a fully integrated governance, risk management, compliance and audit software solution used by over 150 organisations locally and internationally. BarnOwl is a locally developed software solution and is the preferred risk management solution for the South African public sector supporting the National Treasury risk framework.
Please see www.barnowl.co.za for more information.
About the presentation and our guest speaker
Summary
The Problem We’re Addressing
Business is about taking risk for reward. If no risk is taken, one cannot expect to be better off in the future, to be successful, to flourish, to thrive.
By rethinking how uncertainty is framed, leaders can transform potential disruptions into opportunities for thriving in a dynamic environment.
What This Session Will Cover
Whereas traditional risk management often focuses on minimizing risk, this session explores a proactive, resilience-driven approach to risk, where organizations move beyond mere risk avoidance, and embrace adaptability to uncertainty as a core competency.
Rooted in the principles of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), this perspective integrates resilience, business continuity, and decision-making into a holistic framework that drives sustainable success.
What Attendees Will Gain
Attendees will gain insight into not only managing through uncertainty to achieve objectives and positive outcomes, but also into leveraging uncertainty as a mechanism to thrive in business and life.
Presented by Martinus Biemond, MExcellent Consulting Services
