In today’s cutting edge companies, effective managers must bring a risk-taking attitude to the table. In fact, not to take a risk is a very big risk. Because if you find yourself being perceived as tentative, afraid of change or — worst of all — tentatively afraid of change, you’ll soon find yourself evicted from the decision making epicenter.
“Poor Carter,” people will say. “He took a chance and played it safe. Now his career is in ruins …”
The really great thing about such companies is that working there is like rolling loaded dice. If you take a risk and it works out, the rewards are obvious. But if you take a risk and it fails, you still get credit for being a risk taker. It’s a win-win! Failing to be a risk taker in such an environment is not playing it safe, it’s stupid! No wonder people talk about poor Carter.
People who work in boring old companies have it much tougher. That’s because boring old companies don’t like to think of themselves as boring — they like to think of themselves as “cutting edge risk takers!” Even their mission statements talk about risk taking, usually alongside words like “dynamic.” Of course, they don’t really mean it, as many new managers have found out to their regret. Sure, they say they mean it — “No, we really mean it!,” they say — but then the monthly figures come in and the CEO wants answers and somebody gets caught holding the bag and all bets are off. “Poor Sheila,” people say. “She took a chance and took a risk. Now her career is in ruins ….”
So if risk taking in a boring old company is a “lose-lose” proposition, what’s the right career management strategy? Obviously, your default position should be to play it safe but call it risky. This is more or less the same thing as taking a very small risk —- like Mike at Company X, who missed his budget by $50.00 because he drove an extra 100 miles on a Saturday to close a sale. Now Mike tells everybody he occasionally misses his budget, and he has developed a reputation as a real risk taker — even a cutting edge risk taker.
The key point in your analysis is to determine what kind of company you work for. If you work for a cutting edge company, your safest strategy is to take every risk you can find. If you work for a boring old company, never take a risk unless it’s a sure thing.
And if you’re going to miss your budget, make sure you close the sale.
