Sequencing Apple's DNA

2On Risk Taking

2.1. Where is the gap?

Risk or reward? Danger lurks not only within the business route but also within opportunities. Why do we retain such a dualistic view for a single term? After all, “venture capitalism” originates from the latin adventura(literally “toward the venture, the possibilities”). But it was then renamed as risk capital!

2.1.1. Business school

Beyond the official presentations trying to portray how innovative the organization is, the sad and sordid reality is that every manager is in fact, at a personal level at least, allergic to risk, for the simple reason that an elementary cost/benefit analysis quickly convinces him that risk taking does not pay off, in terms of career development.

Moreover, traditional business school teaching puts so much emphasis on risk analysis that cautiousness easily turns into risk aversion.

Even in cases where the innovative forces of the company manage to come up with a promising new product, it is frequently rejected, based on the idea that a new product could sabotage the existing products, which characterize an organization perceiving its own innovation (and innovators) as a threat.

In traditional sectors, characterized by slow innovation, managers may never, or very seldom in an entire career, forced to decide on a major disruptive innovation. The bulk of innovation happens through small, incremental, low risk ...