Risk taking
In the last few decades it has become fashionable to adopt a higher risk profile in pursuit of flexibility, agility, competitiveness and ultimately higher profits. We are told by the experts that risk can be managed, mitigated, hedged. We all know how well that turned out for the financial industry in the 1980s, again in the 1990s, and again in the 2000s. Are we learning yet?
The hard fact about a higher risk profile is that sooner or later you will crash. Just because you got away with it last time doesn't mean you will next time.
We all tut tut about those evil bankers, and then we go and do it in IT.
Sure there is a risk of errors and outages with agile but we need to develop faster to be competitive.
Sure there is a data security risk with BYOD but the kids must have it or they'll cry and go work somewhere else.
Sure there is a risk with Cloud of data sovereignty, ownership, and privacy, but look at all the flexibility.
It is the modern way to up the risk profile. Conservative risk postures are old-fashioned, for losers. Risk or die. The world has no time for caution.
It's like road accidents: the horror stories continue to roll in but not quite often enough to make us drive slower.
When will we learn there is a reason it's called "risk". And nobody is expert enough to magic it away. If you push risk you will pay - it's just a matter of time.
Made in New Zealand 
