Professor Risk and the Art of Leadership
I found this short video on risk very helpful in thinking about the decisions we are called to make everyday both in our individual lives and as leaders. (Okay, first of all, I love that Cambridge has a “Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk” and even more that David Spielgelhalter, the professor in question, has been nicknamed “Professor Risk”!)
I think it’s important because we are sometimes tempted to believe that if we are careful enough, or precise enough, or cautious enough, we can avoid risk. Indeed, often we are tempted to believe that our job as leaders is to avoid risk. But as Professor Risk points out, every activity we engage in entails a certain amount of risk. The challenge is assessing them in relation to their potential yield.
Moreover, and lest we think inaction solves the problem, not acting or changing in any way also entails risks. The subtle challenge to leaders is that sometimes we have come to know the risks inherent in our current situation or course of action so well that we dismiss them, giving weight – and probably undue significance – to the risks associated with change because they are more visible.
Lately my family and I have been contemplating making a dramatic change – call it an adventure 🙂 – and as my wife and I think all this through, we are regularly confronted by – and, to tell you the truth, sometimes daunted by – the risks this adventure would entail. Everyone once in a while, however, as the risks mount and we begin to lose our nerve, one or the other of us reminds us both that there is risk in keeping everything the same as well.
Yes, there is risk in changing….a job, relationship, strategy, worship style, whatever. But there is risk in not changing as well. What opportunity will be lost, what new solution foregone, what growth missed by staying the same? These factors are harder to calculate but just as important to weigh.
Here’s the thing: We can undertake no significant action without risk. Our job as leaders – whether of households, congregations, classrooms, or companies – is not to avoid risk but rather to weigh the risks involved – of both changing and not changing – and strive to choose the one that seems most likely to lead us to what we believe is God’s preferred future.
Trust me, I know that can be daunting. But I’m helped when I remember that leadership is an art, not a science, and that none of us justified, ultimately, by our decisions but by grace through faith.
Note: 1) If you are receiving this post by email, you may need to click here to watch the video.
2) Thanks to Open Culture for regularly bringing such interesting tidbits my way.
Boy Dr. Lose, now you have us all wondering and nervous about your change in family…
Sorry, Matt – that wasn’t my intention, honest. 🙂
Sometimes what feels like a big risk to you ends up, in hindsight, as less risky than it once seemed. We’re still figuring some things out, but I’ll let folks know once we make a decision. Thanks for checking in!
Just so.
Matthew 25:14-30 or Luke 19:12-28. Luther’s letter to Melanchthon.
Go big or go home. Life is a messy business. The only way to “stay clean” is to fail to live.
Opportunity cost is the thing you give up when you choose — or don’t choose.