第6章 Part One

Risk Is Everywhere

You can't escape it. It is all around you. Sometimes you can see it, say, in riveting moments of triumph or defeat. Other times it is invisible, like a nerve gas, slowly taking over your system. It can be benevolent or benign, invigorating or debilitating, life-affirming or life-ending. It is RISK, and it is everywhere.

Faced with the inevitability of risk, we are left with two basic ways of dealing with it: doing something or doing nothing. Depending on the circumstances, either approach can be appropriate. But know this, whichever approach you take, you'll be taking a risk. When you act, you might fail. When you don't act, you might miss out on a big opportunity.

This part looks first at risk's ubiquity. Like it or not, the world is becoming a riskier place to live. You'll read about some of the ways that risk is growing in both prevalence and intensity, on a global scale, affecting us on a personal level. This part also looks at what makes a risk “right.” Be it in action, or in inaction, there is a right way and a wrong way to approach risk. You'll read about the defining characteristics of a Right Risk, so that you can begin to decipher whether your big risk is worth pursuing.