Every risk method forces a choice: rigorous but impenetrable, or simple but shallow. The bow-tie refuses the trade-off. On a single page, it shows what could cause a risk event, what could follow it, and every barrier standing in between — an analysis a regulator will respect, drawn as a picture a five-year-old can read.
This 16-page field guide walks you through the complete method, from first whiteboard sketch to auditable analysis:
- The full nine-element anatomy, defined in plain English
- Why choosing your focal event is the most important analytical decision you'll make
- Controls, the Swiss cheese model, and why the gaps are the findings
- Escalation factors: the silent barrier-killers quietly eroding the controls you're counting on
- A complete worked example (the factory fire) on one page
- Opportunity bow-ties, the bow-tie table, and a five-step skeleton for running your first workshop
Written by Julian Talbot, co-author of the Security Risk Management Body of Knowledge (SRMBOK), drawing on three decades of security and risk leadership across government, Defence, and major hazard industries.
It accompanies the free SRMBOK video short course.
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Watch the free 23-minute Bow-Tie course
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