No saint, no hero, no discoverer, no prophet, no leader ever did his work cheaply and easily, comfortably and painlessly, & no people was ever great which did not pass through the valley of death on its way to greatness.
# Walter Lippman
There is always an unknown parameter even in the most comprehensive plans. On a smaller scale , many decisions corner us on a day-to-day basis. Some like :
· Who to recruit between two equally qualified individuals?[/i]
· Which college to pick for a Post-Graduate / MBA etc ?[/i]
Some of these decisions may be irreversible :
· Should I quit this job and move on?[/i]
· Get a liposuction done.[/i]
· Refurnish our home.[/i]
[/i]
If you set out to take risks , it means to enroll yourself in a process of picking what to let go and what to hold on to ? Often in a organizational picture ; these decisions however small they might be ; must be taken after reaching to a consensus with all the concerned parties like – customers , colleagues , supply chain , task forces and community officals.
There is risk in every step you take. Be it while driving your car through heavy traffic , breathing in the polluted environment or even choosing a life partner. Now we all know the hazards of using up fossil fuels (pollution , global warming bla bla bla) but we still use it without fail. It is a risk we have decided to take and we must be ready to face the backlash. (think on the lines of Japan)
There are some people among us who get a high out of taking frequent risks. The people who stay in their protective shells may lead a stable life ; but they might miss out on opportunities in bare sight and their lives becomes nothing more than a monotonous cycle of events.
Coming back to our context ; in a managerial skill set , calculated risk-taking should be etched deep. A appropriate amount of risk adds flavour to your career and personal life. The more you let your guard down , the more will people see you for who you are and do the same. Which will eventually take you up the societal and organizational ladder.
Risks as I said , need not be at an individual level only. In our jobs we rely on collectivistic handling of risk. If you remember right in Physics there was this concept of increasing surface area to reduce pressure as :
Pressure = Force / Area .
This works both in theory and in everyday practice. After all science and religion have their roots is Rule-of-the-thumb practices which prevailed over many milleniums and eventually were put as doctrines.