C1.6 Tolerance per objective

NASA Risk Management Handbook v2.0, RIDM [11]

The component requires that each objective carry its own tolerance, set by the decision authority before alternatives are analyzed; that aggregated risk against an objective be reported as the likelihood of missing it, not as an average of scores; and that the tolerances be the reference against which the consequence of any scenario is stated (C1.6) [11]. The likelihood of missing the objective is one number a board can read, and it is the form in which the portfolio view of C1.2 [2] is delivered. The component also supplies the reference chapter 11 required for consequence: a consequence is stated against an objective, and the objective's tolerance says whether it matters.

It comes from the aerospace handbook's risk-informed decision making, in which the decision authority sets performance measures and a tolerance for each before any alternative is analyzed, and the risk of an alternative is the likelihood that an objective is missed. Part II noted that tolerance there is set per objective, not for the organization: the enterprise framework's meaning, made operational. The handbook also reserves a margin for risks unknown or underappreciated, which the component carries as an allowance in the likelihood of missing an objective. What it reconciles is the enterprise framework's tolerance as variation in performance [2], the register series' tolerance as a measurable range [9] and the handbook's tolerance per objective [11]: one definition seen from governance, from the register and from the decision. What it replaces is the enterprise-wide tolerance statement, a single sentence about how much variation the organization accepts in general, which cannot be measured because nothing in general is.