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August 2005
“Who dares wins.” It’s the motto of the British SAS, Her Majesty’s
elite military unit. This call to action is not just applicable to
special operations warriors; these three words succinctly articulate
the key differentiator between those who bask in the glow of
extraordinary achievement and the masses who navigate life with nary
a ripple. In my experience, this willingness to put it on the line is
a much greater indicator of success than the more conventional
qualities of intelligence, dedication, and attention to detail.
Perhaps the ratio is correct -- the workforce can only sustain a small
number of trailblazing entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders. After
all, the majority of the rewards and accolades accrue to them. I
submit that you might want to consider joining that first group -- and
creating an environment that fosters risk-taking and innovation from
those you lead. The rewards for successfully making the leap are
nothing short of extraordinary.
Unfortunately, there is no reward without risk. This is a fundamental
principle of economics and a key factor that maintains market
equilibrium. It is also extremely applicable to individuals when it
comes to their own careers. Staying below the radar, avoiding
conflict, and operating inside the box is a great way to keep your
job in perpetuity -- and probably the surest way to remain right in the
middle of the pack for life.
Spearheading new ways of doing business, challenging the conventional
wisdom, or starting something altogether new can be enormously
rewarding both in terms of career growth and pecuniary rewards.
Unfortunately, it also increases the likelihood that you’ll fail,
threaten those around you and, heaven-forbid, commit a career
limiting action. As I said, there is no reward without risk and, in
the aggregate, the odds favor you -- the house. Look around at the most
successful people you know, they are all risk-takers. Fortunately,
it’s in our DNA as Americans. From our venerable Founding Fathers to
Donald Trump, America rewards those who risk their pride, lives, and
livelihood for the possibility of much more.
As leaders, we should also encourage a culture of appropriate risk
taking. The test for any great organization is: do the rewards for
innovation materially eclipse the penalty for failure? If not, there
is a very big problem. As we all know, the military often fails this
fundamental test. We often hear of the zero-defect policy in effect
in the Navy and, despite the best efforts of many O-10s and E-9s,
it’s generally true. One blemish on your record and your chances for
promotion are greatly reduced. Ironically, we work in an inherently
dangerous environment flying planes, driving ships, leading warriors --
yet, we tend to drive to ultimate accountability with severe career
consequences for even small mistakes. This naturally leads to the
unintended, but not surprising, consequence of persistent and
pervasive risk adversity in the bureaucracy of the military. To be
fair, almost all extremely large organizations inadvertently optimize
against avoiding risk as their objective function.
Rebel! You can make a difference. In your commands, expect some
amount of failure from those who take smart risks and drive
innovation. In some of the best entrepreneurial companies, half of
the new products fail -- in the music and book publishing industry, for
example, the vast majority of the titles fail to recoup their
investment -- all the profit is made on the small number of best-sellers
and chart-toppers. An old adage notes that, “One who makes no
mistakes never makes anything.” The military is certainly not the
entertainment industry, and the consequence for failure in the
service is likely to be much, much higher. While that is true,
matching risks and rewards does apply to both equally well.
Unnecessary risks that put peoples lives at stake should not be
tolerated, but aggressiveness and innovation in battle must be
nurtured and rewarded. In the somewhat safer world of public affairs,
for example, we should not be afraid to proactively tell the Navy story to the media just because the possibility exists that something
negative might appear in the article. It will, and the leadership has
to resist the temptation to zero-in on the negative and disregard the
positive. One too many zingers to the PAO, and the organization will
naturally revert to reactive, damage-control mode -- the bastion of risk-adversity.
As Woody Allen said and the Harvard Business School teaches, “70% of
success in life is showing up.” It's true. Hundreds of thousands of
people have brilliant ideas for new businesses, inventions, and books
but never do anything about them -- they take their brilliance to the
grave. In fact, it’s often the most successful entrepreneurs and
leaders who never fully analyzed the thousands of risks inherent in
their plans -- they just went out there and did it. Ask Fred Smith,
Grace Hopper, Sergey Brin and the countless other successful leaders
whom many called crazy for trying.
Believe in yourself and dare to challenge the status quo. “Because
the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world
are the ones who do.”-- Apple Computer
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© 2005 Christopher Michel. All opinions expressed in this article
are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Military.com.
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Chris is President of Military Advantage, the nation's largest military and veteran membership organization. Through Military.com, the company connects over 4 million members to the lifelong benefits of military service and provides public and private sector clients efficient access to the military market. Members trust Military.com for career, education and financial services. Founded in 1999, Military Advantage has raised over $30 million from leading investors and strategic partners, including A&E Television Networks. In 2004, Military Advantage was acquired by Monster Worldwide (Nasdaq: MNST).
Prior to founding Military Advantage, Chris was a strategy consultant assisting companies in the airline, entertainment, and financial services industries.
Chris also served as a Naval Flight Officer in the United States Navy. While on active duty, Chris flew as a P-3 Navigator, Tactical Coordinator and Mission Commander in support of maritime interdiction operations in the Red Sea, NATO enforcement operations in the Adriatic, and counter-narcotics missions in Central America. Following his operational tour, Chris worked in the Pentagon as Aide to the Chief of the Naval Reserve.
An advocate for servicemembers and Veterans, Chris is a frequent speaker and has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Business Week, Financial Times, and others. He is also a regular guest on CNN and other national radio and TV programs. In addition, he writes the monthly "Charting your Course" column for U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings magazine and is working on his first book to be published by Simon & Schuster in 2005. He is an elected Director of the U.S. Naval Institute, a Trustee of the U.S. Naval Institute Foundation and a past Director of the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation and the USS Arizona Memorial Fund.
Chris earned his commission from the NROTC program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was named a Distinguished Naval Graduate. He also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Chris
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