How much Risk can you stomach?

Risk is an abstract concept. Very often, it is perceived risk rather than actual risk. We can take on a lot more risk doing something that we are more familiar with. For example, we think that driving a car is less risky than venturing into businesses. If we know the percentage of casualties caused by car accidents, we may think otherwise. When taking flights were reserved to the privileged few many years ago, people think that sitting in an airplane flying from one place to the other was more risky than taking ground transport. Newspapers often have air crash stories on the first page. After people realized that air crash casualties are far less than ground transport accident casualties statistically, taking flights are not that risky after all.

Our perceived risk is very much influenced by dramatization and herd instinct. We can identify with victims easily. Human being like to cry victim simply because it gives them pleasure to do so. It gives them attention from other people. And so when someone said that he was victim of a business venture, you would most likely paid him your attention and declared that venturing into business is risky. This is particularly so if that someone is close to you.

I have a colleague who is still undergoing flying training to become a First Officer told me that he had a tough time convincing his mum to let him join the pilot’s profession simply because his mum’s brother died piloting an airforce fighter a few years ago. To his mum, her perceived risk of piloting an airplane is much more compared to the rest of us who have not suffered from an airplane accident either directly or indirectly before.

We also tend to conform with the people around us in terms of the amount of risk that is acceptable to us. If three out of your four friends told you that taking part in a bungee jump will sprain your neck, you would most likely not taking part in that sport. Would you bother to find out what is the percentage of people who sprain their necks taking part in a bungee jump? When three out of your four neighbors bought fire insurance to protect their houses, you would probably be thinking hard about getting one too.

We do hear news of roller-coaster accidents that resulted in death. The next time you are in a theme park queuing for a roller-coaster ride, you probably won’t think of those news because right in front of you, there are lots of people who have taken the ride and come out unscathed.

Risk is associated with everything that we do in this world. Be it taking a flight, driving in a car, walking on a street or simply sitting at home. At any one time, accident might happen. Other traffic might hit us. The picture hanging on the wall at home might fall onto our head. Or natural disaster such as earthquake, flood or tsunami might strike. Or airplanes come crashing into the office that you are working in. (Yes, I don't have to mention that day in September.)

The same goes to every action or inaction that you decided on. In today’s world where the Internet has intensified the competition in the job market, is working for people in exchange of monthly salary not risky too? The job skills that you acquired today may go obsolete in five years time due to cost cutting and outsourcing. The way to survive is to constantly upgrade our skills and to adopt a risk diversification strategy. Acquiring both employable skills and business skills is part of the risk diversification strategy. Not only are we able to work for different companies, we are also able to venture out on our own should we need to one day. The last thing we should do is to cry victim of our employer and keep complaining about overwork, underpaid and being poor all the time!