Risk: the essential successful ingredient
February 16, 2012 at 1:35pm by Steve Buzinski
(Image by Steve Buzinski)
On January 25 and 26, I attended the Dx3 Canada Marketing Conference on digital marketing. It included some innovators, some entrepreneurs and more tweeters than one convention hall should handle. The two days were peppered with discussions and presentations on successful practices that were all proof of the power of mobile, social and digital – not a huge surprise to most of us.
However, after sitting through all of the discussion, I was struck by a thought that seems to have been missed or avoided by most: calculated risk seems to be an essential ingredient of success.
There are countless examples of great advertisements, businesses, social media campaigns, creative prints and yes, even viral videos – but the most successful ones, the ones we talk about the most, and the ones that leave the biggest impression involved some level of risk. We all experience pressure to negate the risk factors when launching a new business, creating a campaign or even trying a new hairstyle. Truth is, you lose when you implement similar ideas after they’re already done, you become a follower and instead of swinging for the fence, you become ignorable. People then start asking, “why aren’t we as good as _______________?”
In general, Canadians are very conservative when it comes to investing and innovation. We want to see the numbers and proof that mitigate every single risk factor. We wait for “perfect information”. Waiting for perfect information is a key reason our economy is gasping for air and why our job markets are malnourished. To paraphrase Reza Satchu, Professor at U of T and one of Canada’s ultra entrepreneurs, “If you’ve waited long enough for perfect information, the opportunity is already gone.” The very fact that there is risk indicates there is opportunity.
The key is to anticipate and plan for risk, not to completely avoid it. It’s better to have loved and lost, better to have tried and failed etc, these aren’t clichés by fluke.
We all know social media is a great connector; we all know the future of mobile is exciting – but finding innovative ways to capitalize on these trends is a different story.
To really hit your mark, you have to be original. And, with originality comes risk. So whether you’re a marketing exec, an intern, a would-be entrepreneur or an advertising guru, trust and know that in order to be original and provocative, to make a real leap forward we all have to understand that innovation and real genius involves an inherent capacity to accept and welcome a little bit of risk.
Steve Buzinski, Strategic Planner
At: 21:15pm | February 21, 2012
Without risk everybody would be doing it. The distinction of risk no risk mitigates the effort. progress over perfection is a clear example of risk vs. no risk. A great article Steve!