My career on Wall Street has taught me one thing and that is the only bad risk is the one you don't take.I tend to agree with him. Living an overly cautious life can lead to disappointment and failure to make the most of oneself and one's opportunities.
This applies to businesses, too. Around 1988 I had an interview at BellSouth for a high-level planning position in their rapidly emerging cellular business. Who wouldn't have wanted to work there at the time, right? Or so I thought.
On the top floor of the HQ building, with inch-thick carpet in the hallways and nice cotton towels in the washrooms, I asked my prospective boss about BellSouth's perspective on risk. He answered, "Around here we don't take risks. We do deals where the other guy takes all the risk."
I'll never forget those words. Immediately it became clear that I was not the person they wanted and that BellSouth was not the employer I wanted. I gracefully concluded the interview and flew home to Raleigh. I was not surprised that BellSouth underperformed over the long run and that most BellSouth executives couldn't find a home when AT&T took them over.
Returning to the quote above, I want to point out that in the context of Wall Street, it's easy to take risks with other people's money. Yes, you can kill your career if you make a big mistake, but you still have your own money in the bank.
My more broadly applicable observation: many people live on the edge of financial ruin. They cannot afford any loss, so they must avoid risk despite the possibility of better outcomes — and statistically, this almost assures them of poor outcomes.
The rich get richer because they can take risks, and the poor stay poor because they cannot.
