Risk intelligence
We live in a craven society. Or do you know anybody who is still willing to take risks? But risks are the motor of our lives, the motor of evolution. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” are not just empty words.
Very wrongly, risks have a bad reputation today. It was easier when they were still called “venture”. The notion of risk turned up at the same time as the “invention” of insurances – is this the reason why we love to get insured against anything and everything? Against the possibility of failure, of ageing, of change?
“No risk, no opportunity!” is not only very true but also the foundation of every entrepreneurship. Where will the impulses for innovation, transformation and growth come from, if companies continue to do the same all over again, if all new ideas are swept under the carpet and every innovation degenerates into a threat against the orderly daily work routine? At best, risk is contained in “risk management”, and most often it means nothing but ticking the boxes of a check list. But it is about much more.
At first, we must perceive the difference between risk and danger. Danger does not provide us with any options to act – if the house is on fire, we must extinguish it. There is not much to ponder. Risk, however, gives us spaces and fields of action. We can evaluate, search for alternatives, create scope for new opportunities – we just have to look closely!
This is supported by a comprehensive notion of intelligence. The most wide-spread concept of intelligence is to a large extent tied to the achievements of our analytical mind. But recent research in neuroscience has taught us to understand that the mind may be most powerful weapon of analysis, but our emotional system is much better and more efficient at handling the evaluation of situations in the here and now.
Accordingly, risk intelligence is to be understood as an integrated process that includes practical knowledge and emotions as well as consciousness and action competence. A process that enables us to lead an energetic, unique and inspiring life and also refreshes our economy, by providing it with new ideas. This is exactly what is needed!
Read more in the two books, or attend a lecture.