Taking a Risk
Take a Risk, Reap the Reward
Eddie Janek has experienced a lot in his life. "I've been hit by trains, caught under barges, survived World War II and the Korean War, but I wanted just a bit more adventure". So, for his 90th birthday, he treated himself to a sky dive. His family and friends thought he was crazy, but he persisted. He hired an instructor to tandem dive. As they jumped out of a perfectly good plane at 12,000 feet, he found himself plummeting to the ground, thinking, "What if the parachute won't open?" But quickly decided , "I'm 90 years old, who cares?" And as he landed nimbly on his feet and someone handed this former Galveston, Texas County Commissioner a beer, he realized, once again, he'd pushed his limits and accomplished what few others have.
We may not have the same level of pushing limits that Eddie Janek has, but we should continually broaden our horizons. Whether driving to work a different way, talking to a stranger or learning a new computer program, to succeed in this fast-paced world, it's becoming a necessity to take more risk. Getting out of your comfort zone can be scary, but it can reap great rewards.
Salim Ismael of Singularity University states, "There are two main types of risk. There's the classic "let's just go for it" risk that entrepreneurs take to build a new business (many of which fail). And then there's constant risk, where entrepreneurs make small process changes but don't bet the company on it. Companies that haven’t embedded either form of risk into their core processes are likely dead. The world is changing too fast without constantly updating processes to stay relevant for long. Just ask Blockbuster. "
Have you ever watched the TV show, "Shark Tank"? The episodes are about entrepreneurs who appear before a panel of billionaires seeking money for their new businesses. As they walk into the room, they face this group of "sharks", who challenge every aspect of their product, business model and motivation. It's not for the faint of heart. Many fail to interest the sharks, but for those who do, the rewards are great. They walk out with a deal, poised to take their business to levels they never dreamed possible.
Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook, says, “The biggest risk is not taking any risk.” Since risk taking is critical to your business, what can you do to make sure that mindset is alive and well in your organization? How can you get employees to push their limits? Here are three tips.
1) Hire risk takers. Attract risk takers through creative advertising. When I worked in the marketing department at Southwest Airlines we ran a successful recruiting ad showing a second grade coloring book where the child colored outside the lines. The teacher posted a note on the page saying "Brian, please try to color inside the lines". That ad was designed to attract applicants who were comfortable coloring outside the lines.
2) Reward Your Risk Takers. The Procter & Gamble Heroic Failure award honors the employee or team with the biggest failure that delivered the greatest insight. Similarly, Tata offers an annual Dare to Try award, which recognizes managers who took the biggest risk. Are you rewarding your risk takers?
3) Forgive Mistakes. When asking people to take risks, you need to accept that there will be failures. It's important to learn quickly from the failures, reposition and move on. The secret to getting people to continue taking the risk is to look at the intent. If the intent was to help the company, coworker or customer and it did not work out, discuss it, find out what happened, correct it and move on.
Be more like Eddie, who came up to me at the Rotary Crawfish Festival in Galveston, Texas, beer in hand, regaling the details of his latest adventure. Whether jumping out of airplanes or redesigning a new process at work, take the risks needed to achieve great results.
Lorraine Grubbs is an author, speaker and business coach. She works with companies to create and promote Happy Workplaces. You can learn more about what she does at: www.lorrainegrubbs.com