archie flockhart (6/19/2012)
The worship of 'risk-takers' seems to me to be based, at least in large part, on "survival bias": pointing at a few lucky people whose risks paid off.There were far more 'risk takers' who tried to build flying machines and never got off the ground ( or worse, plunged to a messy end on the rocks below ); and thousands of people who set up computer companies that went broke, taking their founders' and investors' money with them.
The guy in this Dilbert cartoon is every bit as much a 'risk taker' as, say, Bil Gates.
As for "Joe"'s company in the article: encouraging risk and encouraging excellence are two different things.
But that's life. Progress always involves risk; you can't steal second base and keep your foot on first. 😀
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"