When The Strategy Launch Party Is Over: Managing The Risk And Governance Hangover
March 2026
There is absolutely every reason to celebrate and empower the future potential and aspirations of committed people in impactful organisations working on strategy. This is where we spend much of our time as executives and Boards; in imagining and pushing for better outcomes for the communities we serve. It is courageous work and it ensures we can constantly challenge ourselves to build stronger and better systems and organisations.
However, most of us also know that it is simply the start of the long and difficult process of implementing and driving strategic change across sectors, communities and within our teams. There often seems to be an almost insurmountable leap from the freshly printed strategic plan to the reality of the first leadership meeting. Many of us have felt that sinking feeling of not quite knowing how to get from the start to the finish.
This leap is often further extended by structural, organisational and financial design as well as by siloed, specialist skillsets which struggle to connect across the divide. We have committees, teams and spreadsheets which focus on different aspects of organizational success - strategy, risk, governance, compliance and performance - all engaged in parallel play but not quite playing together.
Ultimately, all of these organisational tools should be orientated towards answering one single question: what do we need to do to for our strategy to succeed?
Escaping the spreadsheet
Have a look at your Risk Register. It is probably a bit dusty, but neatly coloured in. You probably have to ask someone where it is, unlike your strategic plan which will be on your wall. Risk is probably one of the most overlooked and underloved aspects of performance and strategic implementation in the for-purpose sector.
In our experience of working with clients in the sector, it has largely been:
Focused on hazard – trips, falls, safety and compliance are the baseline for risk management. Of course, essential and not to be ignored, but managed through hiring people who have a clear understanding of regulatory obligations, workplace and premises
Overly modelled on the financial sector – it is much harder to quantify and design an algorithm which properly captures the nuance and human aspects of a for purpose organisation than it is to quantify a financial outcome based on a set of known numbers. Many of the tools and templates we are handed come from the financial sector, where outcomes and eventualities are simpler, if not easier, to predict and quantify
Distant from impact and quality – risk discussions take place in different rooms from conversations on how to bring impactful and high-quality outcomes to community. Unfortunately, those who best understand our clients needs and experiences, are often not invited into governance discussions, and so we miss the critical opportunity to bring their knowledge into identifying and managing risks
Seen as a handbrake – Properly led, discussions on risk should not be something people dread talking about. They should simply inform us of the tasks which we need to prioritise to ensure that we are working safely and constructively and managing the risks, together, of delivery and impact
Boring and process driven – To most people, engaging in a numerical exercise and a red, yellow, green colour palette simply doesn’t equate with the daily challenges of delivering complex and intersecting experiential, relationship and human-centric goals. There is a mismatch of language, process and aspiration which reduces critical risk conversations into a tick the box exercise
What does a blended approach look like?
We have worked with peak bodies and for purpose organisations to support nuanced, practical and embedded ways of identifying and managing risk.
Our aim is to ensure that leadership are left with:
A sharper understanding of the route to operationalising their strategy
Clear accountabilities and ownership of actions which require investment and resourcing
A governance structure which proactively blends and connects strategy, risk and community centered discussion
“GoodWolf’s clear-eyed, logical, and independent analysis enabled The Lady Musgrave Trust to reframe our risk analysis and identify new and emerging risks and appropriate strategies, while continuing to progress our business as usual activity…This work has been essential to better articulation or our risks and mitigation approach and ensuring governance arrangements keep pace with the LMT’s 2026-2031 strategy.”
-Lisa, Operations Manager, Lady Musgrave Trust
We work with the Board, Management and staff to ensure:
Every team member understands that they have a role in the success of the strategy and the inherent risks
Board and management have a shared approach to the intention and direction of the surfacing and discussion of strategy and risk
Risk is freed from a compliance or governance environment and brought into the heart of values-led and client centric design
“Working with Good Wolf on our risk framework helped us achieve two important goals - get over the fear that a focus on risk would inhibit innovation and gain alignment between our team and Board. Best of all, we got there with many hands touching the final product and plenty of good cheer. Liberating for us all!”
- Ian Bird, CEO Community Foundations Australia
We would love to understand how your organisation is grappling with its risk portfolio and any tips and tricks you would like to share with the GoodWolf community.
If you’d like to reach out to discuss this paper in more detail with Balveen, or talk through your own questions about risk, please reach out to her directly on balveen@goodwolf.com.au.
