Permission to Take Risks

In the special July/August 2012 issue of Exchange focused on creativity, Betty Jones contributed a thought-provoking article, "Give Ourselves Permission to Take Risks."  In introducing this article she observed...

"Well-behaved children and adults, in many communities, don’t think for themselves.  Their parents and their teachers have trained them to do what they’re told — and they do.  That keeps life predictable for everyone.
 
"Thinkers may come up with new ideas.  New ideas threaten the status quo — the way things are supposed to be.  Thinkers who come up with big ideas can get in serious trouble.  To have ideas is risky.  To act on ideas is even riskier.  

"What's a risk?  It’s when you don’t know what will happen when you take action.  Risks can be little or big, calculated or stupid.  In an era when more people live longer and healthier and more comfortably than ever before, our society seems to have become addicted to ‘risk-free’ as a goal.  If something bad happens, there’s a quick search for someone to blame — and to sue....  But risk management, not risk prevention, is the only realistic survival strategy.  In an era of bubble-wrapped babies and nature-deprivation, we need to remember that growth is risky — and it needs to be.  

"Every new idea carries risks — and the challenge to face them and see what will happen.  Nobody becomes smart, creative, self-confident, and respectful of others without taking risks — remaining open to possibilities and acting on them....  We can enjoy that process, or let it ­terrify us."

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