Many leaders have learned to make decisions by carefully evaluating and minimizing risk. But in today’s uncertain and fast-moving world, we need to approach risk-taking in uncertainty differently. In her July 19 “Your Best Next Move” video, Bobbie LaPorte provides tips on how to take in-the-moment actions based on confidence.
TRANSCRIPT OF “YOUR BEST NEXT MOVE: HOW TO APPROACH RISK-TAKING IN UNCERTAINTY.”
Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with my weekly tip for Your Best Next Move – where I help you have more agency in your work, acknowledge your capacity to act and see what you can do right now.
This week, I want to share some tips on how to approach risk-taking in uncertainty.
I’ve been encouraging you to take advantage of the personal agency you have and to act – quickly – often despite the uncertainty of the times we are operating in. For many leaders, this can be difficult.
Why is that? There are many factors – but probably the most important is we have learned throughout our careers that the road to success is based on minimizing risk and maximizing opportunity. Mistakes should be infrequent if we are truly competent and understand risk-taking – and typically this involves a long, drawn-out evaluative process that takes time.
But in an uncertain world, we now need to approach decision-making differently. Why? With the pace at which our world is moving, the cost of delay in making a decision can be significant to you, your team and the organization.
We all know that the higher we move in the organization and the more responsibility we take on, the more we are asked to deal with ambiguity and risk.
With that new approach to decision-making comes a new approach to risk-taking in uncertainty.
And that means: We can no longer make minimizing risk the primary focus of our approach to decision-making.
In a world where change is happening at an unprecedented, accelerated pace, where no one knows how to plan for tomorrow – evaluating risk must take a back seat to taking in-the-moment actions based on confidence.
The answers, if there are any, are not clear and straightforward as they were earlier in your career.
We need to accept the reality that increased risk-taking and making mistakes are more acceptable now. This is what making no-regret decisions is all about – that every decision is a good one – until it is not.
So, questions to ask yourself are:
- Do you understand that making mistakes is now part of the process?
- And how confident are you to act – without knowing the end result?
So, here’s my tip for risk-taking in uncertainty:
Consider creating a mechanism that forces you to stop and consider your next step before reacting to changing circumstances. Something that gives you space and perspective to consider the timeline for your decision-making and how to move forward – quickly.
It could be a “mantra” – or phrase that makes you think, like “slow down….what do I really need to know here?”, or a note you keep on your phone, or some icon or photo that reminds you about the need for speed.
For instance, I keep a photo of a gas pump on my laptop – to remind me that I only have so much energy fuel for the day, and not to waste it on insignificant things that set me off, or things I can’t control.
Try something and see if it works…or if you need to change it up. But reminder mechanisms can be very powerful.
I want 2021 to be a year of momentum for you, one of possibility thinking where you take advantage of the agency, we sometimes forget we have.
That’s my tip for this week. I’ll see you next week; take care of yourselves!