In an era of mounting uncertainty and accelerating disruption, risk management has evolved from a back-office function to a critical boardroom priority. The book launch on December 11, 2025, at the CIBN Hall, Victoria Island, Lagos, marked a significant milestone in this evolution, bringing together business leaders, professionals, and policymakers for an engaging Business Conversation on Enterprise Risk Management and the celebration of a groundbreaking new book on risk leadership.
The well-attended event drew representatives from diverse sectors including financial services, insurance, telecommunications, oil and gas, pensions, and fintech, reflecting the growing recognition that risk is no longer sector-specific but systemic.
From VUCA to RUDE: A New Framework for Uncertainty
At the heart of the celebration was Dr. Orlando Olumide Odejide, the book’s author, who captivated the audience by challenging conventional risk management thinking and introducing innovative frameworks designed for today’s volatile business environment.
While concepts like VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) and BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, Incomprehensible) have become familiar in leadership circles, Dr. Odejide argued they no longer fully capture the realities facing modern organizations.
He introduced a compelling new lens: RUDEÂ (Random, Unpredictable, Dynamic, and Entropic) to describe the true nature of today’s world.
“Everything is random, and everything is unpredictable,” he explained. Markets shift suddenly, regulations evolve without warning, technologies disrupt overnight, and seemingly stable institutions can unravel with alarming speed. In such a world, linear planning and static risk registers are woefully insufficient.
As an antidote, Dr. Odejide proposed CALMÂ (Consistent, Anticipatory, Logical, and Measured) as the leadership and governance posture required to survive and thrive. “The world is RUDE,” he noted, “and our job is to find some CALM in it.”
Are You Managing Risk or Just Reacting to Issues?
One of the session’s most thought-provoking insights was Dr. Odejide’s assertion that many organizations claiming to practice risk management are actually only managing issues.
True risk management is forward-looking. It involves predicting what might happen and establishing structures to address those possibilities before they materialize. Once an event has occurred, organizations are no longer managing risk—they’re managing incidents, crises, or failures.
“Risk is not what you are experiencing at the moment,” he stressed. “Risk lives in the future.”
This distinction resonated deeply with attendees, particularly those from environments where firefighting has replaced foresight and governance systems remain reactive rather than anticipatory.
Reframing Risk: From Threat to Opportunity
Another inspiring message from the launch was the need to reframe organizational perceptions of risk. Too often, risk is viewed solely through a negative lens as something to be avoided, minimized, or feared.
Dr. Odejide challenged this mindset, reminding participants that risk encompasses both threats and opportunities. Many of the greatest business successes emerge from organizations willing to take calculated risks in pursuit of opportunity.
He urged leaders to focus more deliberately on opportunities rather than being paralyzed by threats, noting that excessive risk aversion can be just as damaging as recklessness.
Governance: The Foundation of Effective Risk Management
A recurring theme throughout the dynamic discussion was governance. Dr. Odejide emphasized that weak governance lies at the root of many organizational failures.
Strong governance provides clarity of roles, accountability, ethical direction, and strategic alignment—all essential for effective risk management. Without governance, risk frameworks become paper exercises and strategies remain disconnected from execution.
He also highlighted a familiar organizational challenge: while many institutions excel at writing strategies, far fewer succeed at executing them on time and to quality. This execution gap, he argued, is fundamentally a governance and leadership failure, not a technical problem.
A Practical Guide for Uncertain Times
The newly launched book synthesizes these powerful insights, offering practical strategies, frameworks, and guidance for navigating an increasingly RUDE world with CALM, discipline, and foresight.
More than a theoretical contribution, it serves as a practical manual for boards, executives, risk professionals, and policymakers who must make decisions amid deep uncertainty.
The launch was not just a celebration of a new publication—it was a call to action for leaders across sectors to rethink how they approach risk in an uncertain world.
As conversations at the event made clear, the future will not become less uncertain. However, organizations that understand risk as opportunity, prioritize governance, and adopt a CALM approach to leadership will be far better equipped to shape that future rather than be overwhelmed by it.