Do you know how to avoid all the risks of mountain climbing? By staying home. But of course, if I stay home, I won't make it to the top. If I am not willing to take risks, all the opportunities in life will pass me by. But that doesn't mean you have to take as many risks as possible.
When I undertook my first bungee jump in 1998, I bought the accompanying T-shirt with the quote: "If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space”. This maxim is still as relevant to me today, as it was then. 'Living on the edge' does not mean that a challenge is only worthwhile if my life was in danger or if I lost a lot of money. But if I only climb mountains that I know I will reach the top of beforehand, then I am not pushing my limits.
Climbers who take the most risks are not the most successful. Climbers who take very big risks usually don't live long enough to be very successful. I myself am a conservative climber. I have said "no" many times when asked if I wanted to join a summit climb. Nevertheless, I did make it to the summit on five out of seven expeditions.
There is no connection between taking a lot of risk and being successful. But there is a clear link between taking the right risks and being successful. If I do not want to climb through an avalanche zone, I will not reach the summit of K2. But if I have to go through that avalanche zone, I will limit that risk by waiting until the snow has sufficiently hardened and climb at the coldest time of the day.
If I want to live my dream, I will have to take risks. Organizations also have to face some risks in transformation if they want to bring their vision to life. Letting the train of globalization or digital transformation pass by is the easiest short-term solution, but could well spell the end of your organization in the long run. Clearly map out the risks so you don't take unnecessary risks, but enough risks to be successful.
Fortunately, not every dream or vision requires life-threatening risks, but I simply do not believe that you can win something without taking the risk of losing something. To be successful, I must be willing to fail. If I am not willing to lose, I cannot win.
Every transformation I have ever undertaken, I have had to adjust. Projects were scrapped, others were started. If you only do projects that you know will succeed in, not many projects remain. You can only avoid all losses if you give up every opportunity to win something.
