TAKE A CHANCE: MOST OF US SAY IT, DO MANY 'DO' IT?

*The easiest way to climb a mountain is to climb it

Edge='Yes or no, and not maybe'

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http://www.forbes.com/sites/ronashkenas/2013/04/08/for-career-decisions-maximize-risks-instead-of-managing-them/

Just read another outstanding contribution from Ron Ashkenas regarding career development - which means YOUR own career progression. In brief, Ron exhorts people to maximise career risk by drawing the appropriate distinction between career opportunity and the art of risk management.

In some respects, I would say that career development is itself (partly) a case of risk assessment, transfer and mitigation. Frequently, we reevaluate our current role and at least dream of something bigger or more substantial than where we're at. Now and again, we throw in the towel or reassess our balance and our current options. Overwhelmingly, however, I agree with Ron's thesis.

GUESS WHAT, THE WORLD IS RISKY!

If the GFC has taught me anything - apart from the fact it's serious; I mean, c'mon it's got its own acronym - the crisis taught me many high-level people could not handle risk. And that includes the opportunity on the downside: for example, the opportunity to design new systems and to make and support cheap, accretive acquisitions. Reckless gambling and the Gambler's Dilemma aside, the old Chinese adage still says it: in danger there is opportunity.

A PORTFOLIO-EYE VIEW OF 'RISKY' CAREER MOVES
Personally, I think about career risk in line with Buffet and Soros' approach to financial risk and reward. Whereas their investment philosophies differ greatly, these hedge fund titans acknowledge positive risk as reward. Within due bounds, leverage can enlarge return as well as magnify loss. Smart hedge-fund managers, nevertheless, never gamble. Although they cannot guarantee financial loss, they learn from every deal, every transaction. And they take a shot. (Consider Buffet's recent purchase of out-of-favour paper media assets).

In terms of career progression, I think Ron points to the pragmatic truth: those who can deal with risk (because they have embraced it) are more capable of handling opportunities to create mutual benefit and societal reward. If you never fell off a bicycle or a trapeze, you'd never become a Tour de France cyclist or a Cirque de Soleil high-top performer.

Sometimes, I'm saying together with Ron Ashkenas, George Soros and Warren Buffet, you have to fail smart. But that means you fail - or succeed - forward...