Leave the gun… ...take the cannoli.

Leave the gun…take the cannoli..

This scene from The Godfather highlights just how personal choices can get when it comes to risk. Is there be a clearer focus on what matters most when choosing not to take the gun you just used to kill someone and instead taking a box of sicilian sweets?

I’m no stranger to cannoli but there is the slight risk of the gun leading to possible conviction and a long (cannoli-less) period in detention.

And yet, choices like that are made all the time in relation to risk. Not the most logical, driven by short term considerations (the cannoli won’t last a day, or even hours if you want the cones to stay crispy..) which are very personal rather than organisational.

For example, if the gun is used as evidence and leads to either the killers or the Corleone family they work for, the short term benefit of the cannoli will be long forgotten in the reputational consequences that will follow.

Similarly, when decisions are taken to manage risk, if the reasons and rationale are not made transparent, and just as importantly, are discussed regularly with those responsible for controlling or oversighting risk, then slightly less rational decisions are made with slightly greater consequences which ultimately could have been avoided, or at least mitigated.

It may well be that cannoli vs. gun is supported by the Corleone hierarchy, but it is still a risk discussion worth having…