Rethinking Risk?
Posted on January 28th, 2010 by Katina »Permalink
It seems like everybody’s talking risk these days – and of course we’ve been doing a good bit of that ourselves. Which is why our interest was piqued this week by Malcolm Gladwell’s latest piece for The New Yorker (subscription required for full article). As is his wont, Gladwell once again uses his column to take a common assumption – in this case, that entrepreneurs thrive by being a risk-taking, live-on-the-edge bunch – and turns it on its head. The resulting piece is an interesting exploration about some of the corporate world’s greatest success stories, Ted Turner and John Paulson among them, and carefully shows how their ability to identify and mitigate risk – far from embracing it – is a crucial element of their success.
It’s a thought-provoking deconstruction on its own, but it’s even more so when read in the context of the recent financial meltdown . . . not to mention the American myth of the entrepreneur as the ultimate risk-taker. There’s plenty of food for thought on just what might happen to the corporate world if people come to view risk as something to be managed on a global scale rather than taking a tactical approach. Not to mention fodder for discussion on the ways that businesses encourage corporate risk-taking, when perhaps they should be doing the reverse.
Speaking of approaches to risk, CFO has a piece on Top 10 Risk Hot Spots from the Corporate Executive Board. It’s worth a look to see what’s on there beyond the perennial favorites like fraud and compliance.
Have some thought to share on risk assumptions and priorities? The comments are a great place to weigh in . . .
February 25th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
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