Embracing Risk
The biggest risk is not taking any risk.
This is a rant about risk.
‘Take risks. Ask big questions. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes; if you don’t make mistakes, you’re not reaching far enough.’
David Packard
True story.
I surfed last Saturday morning, at a secret spot just south of Noosa. It was shaping up to be a good session. Until I duffed a wave, and ended up getting rag-dolled under 6 feet of whitewater (not uncommon for someone with my less-than-stellar water skills).
My watch, in water lock mode, started beeping and telling me I’d had a hard fall. I couldn’t shut the damn thing off. At least, not until I figured out that water lock mode killed the touchscreen.
Risk, it seems, is something to be measured, avoided, eliminated.
I disagree.
Risk is part of the human experience
As it should be.
We have rules, gadgets and social expectations that demand we stay safe, warm and snuggled up in stripey blankets. Fall off a surfboard? Alarm! Creep over the speed limit? Alarm! Smoky steak in the kitchen? Alarm! Cross into the next lane? Alarm!
I don’t want someone, or some gadget, to warn me not to step past a nominal boundary, one that’s been predefined by some faceless actuary.
How often, too, does an alarm sound when there’s no risk at all?
Risk is a required precursor to personal growth
As we grow in wisdom and effectiveness we learn to recognise, negate and respond to risks. Our actions are informed by past experience, whether it’s embarrassment (or praise), pain (or joy), or an opportunity won (or lost).
But we can’t stretch boundaries when we don’t know where the boundaries are. The only way to grow past a boundary is to cross it, and feel in your guts that ‘uh-oh’ moment, something that entrepreneurs like you and me instantly recognise.
The Wright brothers were ridiculed as small-time bicycle makers. They built a heavier-than-air flying machine, and now 12 million of us board planes every single day.
Roger Bannister knew that a 4 minute mile was beyond human capability. He was the first to break that barrier in 1954, and now over 2,000 people have done so.
It’s 2025, and here we are on Substack.
What boundaries will you break today?
If you’ve already started your entrepreneurial journey, where are your limits and why aren’t you kicking them down the road?
