G.K Chesterton is arguably one of the best
and most underrated British writer after Charles Dickens. What makes him so
exceptional, in my opinion is his view on paradox. He believes the rule of
universe is in fact paradoxical. The example he gave to explain this abnormal
take on the universe is: if a solider at war wants to survive, he must first
forget the notion of survival, he mustn’t afraid to die.
And that is my take on opportunities and
risks when it comes to starting a venture or become an entrepreneur. It is
paradoxical, you can’t have opportunities without risks and you can’t have
risks without spotting one or two opportunities. Which reaffirms the quote we
saw in class that
”One of the greatest myths about entrepreneurs
is that they are risk seekers. All sane people want to avoid risk.”
Both risks and opportunities have much to
do with the fact that life is full of uncertainties. It is human nature to
wonder, speculate, predict and almost inevitably gamble on such uncertainties. Entrepreneurs
know that and they’ve been doing great things in using technology to predict
such uncertainties like data analytics and machine learning technologies. Like
we’ve discussed in class opportunities can be explored and risks can be
mitigated. Although what’s interesting is the acknowledgement of you can’t get
rid of risks.
This article https://hbr.org/2012/06/managing-risks-a-new-framework
in Harvard Business Review talks about the framework of managing risks. It
addresses “Risk management is painful—not a natural act for humans to perform.”
It explains the reason behind such fact is because risks have much to do with
chances and “we tend to be overconfident about the accuracy of our forecasts
and risk assessments and far too narrow in our assessment of the range of
outcomes that may occur”.
There are many risks when it comes to
iCraftPath for example there is a disruptive energy within the local community.
Community leaders from different craft fairs are very hostile against each
other, ignoring the fact they are not only competitors but also partners at the
same time. Such phenomenal may undercut iCraftPath’s effort in creating a
community based educational resources. Nevertheless it is also an opportunity
for iCraftPath to organize distanced community leaders, unite forces and reach
the real potential of the crafting market in the city of Pittsburgh. To
mitigate this risk and to turn it into an opportunity iCraftPath needs a
facilitator (this would be both a people need and a market need), a liaison who
can have a peaceful discussion with all craft community leaders. So what do you
think about the theory of risks being opportunities and opportunities will
bring risks? That they are essentially inseparable?
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