Minimal Risk

Reviewing my notes I discovered a delightful article by Fernando Trias de Bes from December 8, 2013 in the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia. With his sharp pen, he points out the interesting way that multiple choice tests are frequently scored. I quote the opening paragraph: «Test exam. The teacher hands out the paper and tells the students: Remember, the wrong answers lower your scores«.

Of course there is a trend to make less mistakes when they cost points. And one of the most effective alternatives is to take less risk.

How executives and entrepreneurs see risk: sinking the boat or missing it

Some time ago we read in the Harvard Business Review’s blog a reference to Peter Dickson and Joseph Giglierano that called our attention because of its visual way of reflection and the analogy referred to the risk that everyone faces. And the perceptions and consequences that both of them produce too.

Dickson and Giglierano state that executives and entrepreneurs face two very different kinds of risks. One of them is that their organization will make a bold move that fails, a risk that they refer to as “sinking the boat”; the other one is that their organization will fail to make a bold move that would have been a success, a risk they call “missing the boat.”