Business philosophers, book writers, keynote speakers, and basically anybody with an opinion on the subject will say that one key to success for an organization is to foster and encourage creativity and curiosity.  That’s surely a good start, but where the rubber really meets the road and awesome things start happening is when members of an organization truly feel free to experiment and take risks.  Of course as with any other theory, simply talking about it doesn’t get it done.  The real show of success is breakthrough ideas and actions that are the hallmark of a culture that really does embrace risk taking.

Too many business leaders (and not just in business…in many walks of life, really) talk a big game about risk taking and entrepreneurship within their organizations but don’t really work toward fostering this character in ways that really provide a good foundation for success.  As with so many marginal leaders, this comes from talking the talk but not really embracing what it takes to turn it into action.  Failure is punished publicly and discussion about alternate solutions aren’t tolerated.  Just get it done, they’ll say.  But then, all too often leaders will intone that they want—even insist—that their teams take chances and look for opportunities to break away from the pack.  But when they don’t see those results and instead go through quarter after quarter of middling performance without any tremendous successes, they far too rarely realize it’s them keeping the group back.
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