Overview

I recall a discussion I had with a respected friend some years ago. We were talking about the performance of a particularly successful individual and my friend said that the person was viewed as being able to make good choices concerning risks. Specifically, he was known for being able to defer or reduce work without suffering the consequences.

After this discussion, I thought for a long time about the observation my friend made concerning this individual. Specifically, what talent was being recognized?

• Was this individual able to identify situations where everyone else overestimated the risk of failure?

• Was he able to be successful because he knew that reducing the amount of work being done would not increase the risk of failure to a significant level?

• Was this individual a lot smarter than others so that he could quickly calculate risk, while others had to operate on gut-feelings only?

• Or was he just lucky?

• Or was he willing to accept risks that others were not?

• Or did he know he would never remain in a single position long enough to suffer the consequences of his poor choices?

Despite how this specific individual achieved success, most of us go about life with the confidence that nature is forgiving, and we will always get a second chance. As a result, it is not uncommon for people to make poor choices and depend on a forgiving nature. Forgiveness may simply be a matter...