Risk is a tricky concept. Business typically wants to limit, manage, or mitigate it. Eliminating risk altogether probably would be seen as the ultimate success (thank you, Six Sigma). But in life, most great things don’t come without some level of risk.
Getting married, having kids, quitting a job, taking a new one. Think of any of the biggest developments in your life or the broader world around you and I’d bet none of those happen without a fair amount of risk.
However, from an early age we are taught to avoid risk. We understand that with risk comes mistakes. And mistakes can be painful. But making mistakes is also how we learn.
We aren’t born knowing that the square peg doesn’t fit into the round hole. We need to try it for ourselves. We experiment. We learn not only what doesn’t fit, we also learn what does. And in that process of learning we begin to see relationships—those between shapes and spaces, challenges and solutions, effort and satisfaction. More is learned from the time spent trying than if we got it all right on the first attempt.
But in business, mistakes mean more cost, more time, and lost opportunities. With the drive towards higher levels of productivity, higher margins, and more efficiency we don’t have room for mistakes.
Without that room, the ability of business to learn and grow is limited. Sure, companies can capitalize on incremental opportunities but they will miss the bigger breakthroughs because they didn’t see as many relationships, have as many experiences, or try as hard. They won’t learn as much from their mistakes, because they won’t make as many of them.
Companies need to create room for mistakes. To explore and try out stuff with their customers. To learn. And to do so faster, to get to the right solution sooner. When companies can make mistakes (ideally outside of the public eye) they can learn invaluable lessons from doing so and bring their customers better solutions because of it.
Risk isn’t that tricky of a concept if you think about it differently—not as the negative value of an event, but as a process capable of yielding positive, even breakthrough results. Make a practice of making mistakes. Create a private space in which to do so. Build a “learning agenda” for your company. And embrace risk. Because what’s true in life is true in business—most great things don’t happen without a fair amount of risk.
Noah Shaw (aka, Data Point Numero Uno) 
Kate DeVagno 
Jill (aka A Sienna Driver) 
Moxie. I’m a Mainer and nothing makes me more nostalgic or emotional than a bright orange can of this..um…unusual drink. I’m not a soda drinker, but Moxie knocks me out. (Okay, I’m starting to mist up.) I’ve even got an old Moxie ad (featuring Sox great Ted Williams) in my kitchen.
Great post for the Sally Field moment, the reasons why you reacted that way and the implications. I think that kind of latent brand connection is often just waiting to be tapped but we tend to let our rational side get in the way of the message.
Although i don’t have any brands that I connect with that really surprise me, I feel a similar generational connection to both Friendly’s and Snyders of Hanover Pretzels. Friendly’s because of all the quick weeknight meals with my mom and siblings that always ended with a little sundae – and the way it makes my kids feel when we go now; Snyders because I used to sit and watch Mets games with my dad and munch a big noisy, crunchy box of Sourdough Hard pretzels and now I sit with my son and a bag to watch Sox games.
Thanks for sharing your brand “moment.”
My heart flutters just thinking about Reese’s peanut butter cups. When I eat them, I actually get teary-eyed because they bring me to such a happy place. Furthermore, I eat them so sparingly due to their nutritionless benefits that upon immediate tongue contact, the sensation is euphoric.
I immediately feel as if I’m in a safe place of the purest happiness and unconditional love and warmth. I actually own a Reese’s pillow – who wouldn’t want to let their head retire on the laurel of such sweetness?