“Issues are risks that have already occurred” is the standard view of the difference between what is popularly called “risk” and “issue”. But, that’s a superficial difference that does not take into account a major attribute of “risk”: objectives. I had a recent discussion with a risk professional that went something like this: Me: “I need to add ‘X’ to the risk register. It’s a month until and the ‘X’ is nonexistent.” RM: “Wait, it’s not done? We don’t have it?