Risk Taking, Fear of Failure, and Innovation

From the dawn of civilization our ancestors took variety of risks, failed at some, gathered themselves up, and made innovative progress to usher us in the modern age.

Risk taking is part of life. If one remains in her/his comfort zone and does not take risks, she/he will not make rapid progress. Again, one needs to recognize what type of risks and what are its consequences. We can take a page from the project management discipline where all projects require proper risk management. The risk management process calls for identification of all risks, analyzing and assessing all risks, developing plans to mitigate risks by minimizing probability of risks occurrence, and establishing contingency plans for dealing with any risks that do manifest.

Let me share my personal example of risk taking and its impact in my life. After high school, I left the comfort of my home to go to Bombay (450 miles away) and stayed in a boarding house. Learning from the benefit of earlier risk taking, two years later I was ready to go to Varanasi (1,000 miles away) for my undergraduate studies in chemical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Banaras Hindu University (IIT BHU), a residential university. Again, after four years when opportunity came, I came to Chicago (8,000 miles away) for my graduate work at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.

My first job was at the Institute of Gas Technology in Chicago in a federally funded energy R&D work. While in between jobs, I took a risk to start my MBA at Keller Graduate School of Management. Then I got an opportunity to join AT&T Bell Laboratories while taking risk to move from chemical engineering to telecommunications. Within a year, a new opportunity arrived to start quality planning and management assignment at the AT&T Bell Labs location in Naperville. Again taking risk, I made a switch and has learned a great deal from the Masters of Quality Management like Dr. Deming and Dr. Juran.

Looking back, I can reflect that the choices I made and risks I took, has served me well. I received best education in chemical engineering and then branched out in management discipline. This solid educational background allowed me to make valuable contributions in corporate,  academic, professional, and non-profit sectors.

Now let us talk about failure. We can learn from Thomas A. Edison and I quote, "I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that won't work." We all remember the First Inaugural Address by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” As a human being, we all have some fear of failure. However, when we undertake any task, it is better to fail early, learn from the failure, and then succeed faster. This formula applies well to all innovative and creative work.

I would welcome your thoughts on risk taking, fear of failure, and innovation.