How to run a bow-tie session, the twelve mistakes that ruin them, and a checklist for reviewing someone else's.
Most bow-ties fail for procedural reasons, not conceptual ones. The method is not hard. Running it well is. The Bow-Tie Field Kit is the practice companion to the Risk Bow-Tie Method: who belongs in the room (and why the facilitator can't have a stake in the answer), how long a real session takes, and the build order that stops the workshop from becoming an hour-long argument about causes.
It covers the twelve most common ways bow-ties fail, from proposed controls listed as existing ones to "safety culture" dressed up as a barrier, and closes with a 26-point review checklist for assessing your own analysis or someone else's: a contractor's, a joint venture partner's, or a regulator's submission.
The test that runs through the whole kit: if nobody can say where a control is written down and who would notice if it stopped, it's a hope, not a control. Better to find that out in the workshop than in front of an auditor, a board, or a court.
Inside the kit:
- Who to invite, how long it takes, and the order of build (start at the knot, not the left)
- Facilitation notes for the moments that derail sessions
- The twelve most common bow-tie mistakes
- A 26-point review checklist covering scope, controls, escalation, and integration
- The diagram-to-table mapping that links your bow-tie to the risk register and controls library
This Field Kit sits alongside the SRMBOK Risk Bow-Tie Method eBook and is drawn from the forthcoming Risk Management Body of Knowledge (RMBOK). Free download. Product downloads also subscribe you to the weekly SRMBOK newsletter unless you opt out. You can unsubscribe whenever you like.
Watch the free 23-minute Bow-Tie course
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