Death by risk-aversion

Don’t be afraid to take risks. That’s very often easier said than done, especially when you’re working with established and successful businesses and brands that were built based on tried-and-true practices.

But the world changes. Your customers change. Your competitors change (or new competitors emerge). If you’re sticking with what’s always worked, from a product or a marketing sense, you’ll soon find yourself behind the curve (and likely behind your competitors).

Fighting risk aversion can be one of the biggest challenges for any company, big or small. It can also be frightening for an individual swimming upstream against the norm.

But it’s a fight worth fighting. Take strength from and leverage with colleagues the success of others who have successfully fought risk aversion, and hence have introduced breakthrough products or marketing ideas that previously had been though to be crazy.