Safe is the New Risky

A couple weeks ago I spoke of personal development as innovation. I think it was a decent post. And I think it's something you should think about. If you have not read the post, Go Here. It's really important that you read that post, as well as the previous post, referenced in the article. Here it is. This week let's elaborate on Druckers' ideas.

I hope you would agree that personal development is an element of innovation. Now, let me give you another powerful quote by Peter Drucker. In his book Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Drucker said the following, “Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs.”

Let me ask you this, have you ever wondered what an entrepreneur is? If you have, I think you are wondering about the right kinds of things. You see, I believe we should always be trying to improve the quality of our questions. The question “What is an entrepreneur?” is a pretty good question.

A lot of people think they know what an entrepreneur is. However, when I ask people directly, I get some pretty wild answers. A lot of people think an entrepreneur is a person who owns a business. But that is incorrect. Plenty of people would say that entrepreneurs love risk. And, again, that is wrong.

One amazing revelation is the following, what everybody "knows” is often wrong. We all know that entrepreneurs love risk. And, we're all wrong. In fact, it's just the opposite. True entrepreneurs avoid risk as much as possible. Let me give you a quick explanation.

First off, life is risky. No matter what you do there is risk involved. For example, let's say you decide to take the “safe” road and get a job with a large and established company. You always get to work on time, you are reliable, and you work hard. Every paycheck you withhold income and fully fund your retirement accounts. You are taking all the right steps to ensure the security of your future. How could anything go wrong? My response would be, ask the former employees of the Enron Corporation.

Now, I intentionally used an extreme example to illustrate the point that every decision contains the element of risk. I think we all know this. And, I think that is why so many people choose to be indecisive (Is that a paradox?)

One of the joys of true entrepreneurship is not risk, it is the containment of risk. I guess it is not that different from what a daredevil does. I do not think it is fair to say that daredevils love risk. I think it is more accurate to say that daredevils like to minimize risk. Stated differently, the stunt person is not looking to die. He or she is looking to cheat death. That is to say, there is a certain amount of joy that comes from flirting with death and living to see another day.

Daredevils do not love risk. They love being in control and conquering risky situations. An example, that just popped into my head, is Travis Pastrana. Pastrana is a motocycle exhibitionist and was the first dirt-bike rider to ever land a double backflip in competition. If you have not seen it, go to YouTube, it is super impressive.

Pastrana's jump looks practically impossible. And dangerous to boot. When you see Travis go backwards twice, in one jump, you think he must be out of his mind. What you do not see is the countless times that Pastrana practiced the double backflip into a foam pit. You see, many riders have built jumping ramps connected to boxes filled with a foam material. This arrangement allows any stunt to be practiced without danger. Again, it is not the danger that is attractive so much as the defeating of danger.

Now, let's go back to you and I. Back to us “normal” people. Part of the reason that personal development is so important is because it allows us to control risk. Obviously, personal improvement is the process of developing skills. A great skill to learn is the skill of mitigating risk. And, that is what entrepreneurs really wish to do. Entrepreneurs do not love risk so much as they strive to control it.

Life is risky regardless of what we do. And, the riskiest thing of all is to rest on our laurels. Better to be a lifelong student. Better to be an innovator who works on the most important product in the world, ourselves.