Program 204 – The Risk of NOT Taking the Next Step

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Starting the conversation…

What are the potential risks versus possible rewards – and what is the downside – of not making the investment?

Host: Jess Dewell
Guest: Edwin Williams

What You Will Hear:

Edwin’s story about the risk and reward of not making an investment.

Market changes, we adapt like lions.

How we react to decisions.

Jess’ story of risk becoming reality.

It’s all the choice of action: prototype and market demand.

The way pieces fall (may not be the way you thought).

It’s a conscious choice to stop a project.

A team that covers the core functions: vision, strategy, and finance.

Handling conflict builds momentum and high functioning teams.

Interpersonal skills are always tested, and define how we work together.

We will have pivots, detours, and the ultimate journey.

Risk is part of smart decisions.

It is bold to consider the risk of NOT doing something.

Notable and Quotable:

Edwin Williams 1:49
In the marketplace, you’re always facing new challenges, new situations coming u, p and if you encounter a situation where the market changes and you don’t make that investment to adapt, someone else will come and take your place.

Edwin Williams 2:25
The younger lions will always be trying to take over that pride. You can see it as a marketplace and if you are not doing what you’re supposed to about keepping your market happy, someone else’s want to take that and then you’re out of business.

Jess Dewell 11:45
Until we actually raise money, I’m not exactly sure we know how. Doesn’t matter if we went to school to do that. I went to school to run a business. I don’t use anything I learned from school. I use everything that I learned from hands on experience. What school did teach me was how to think.

Jess Dewell 12:10
Sometimes there’s so much out of our control, all we can do is influence. All the pieces maybe there, but they’re just going to fall where they may.

Jess Dewell 17:43
That’s what a good leadership team does. I’m in charge of this. I will make sure it shows up. I will interpret what it is. I will be the one who says, “here’s our opportunity. Here’s our risk. We’re on track. We’re not on track. Come with the recommendation.” All that does is set up a good discussion.

Jess Dewell 18:20
There’s going to be a mess sometimes because that’s what it is. Being human is really messy, and people like to take the mess out of it. That’s where we get all this process and procedure, accuracy or performance, or some of those thing. And you know, we’re only as good as the people that are doing it.

Jess Dewell 20:47
If you’re like me, you’ve already gleaned enough to add to that context that you have to really apply to a potential problem that you’re trying to grapple through. When we talk about not taking an action, or losing a big client, or responding versus reacting, all we’re doing is recognizing the risk we took. When we also are looking at our choices, and we’re looking at what’s the risk the choice we didn’t take, we might find something interesting. Maybe not to use right now, but maybe it’s use late.

Edwin Williams 24:15
You are tied to your business partner or partners for as long term business, so you better like them.

Edwin Williams 25:39
We are very drawn by our emotions, and sometimes take somethings personal where someone says, “that’s a bad idea.” You think they’re talking about you personally, but they’re not. They’re talking about your idea, and you have to learn to divorce that emotion from the idea, and look at it objectively to make a decision.

Edwin Williams 27:36
You have to understand that you can be wrong, which helps a lot in discussion, because if you think you’re always right, you’ll never accept another perspective coming in.

Jess Dewell 34:00
We need to get out of our own way sometimes. And the only way we can do that is by being willing to be open and a little vulnerable with people who we kind of want to show how awesome we are, but we also kind of want to succeed.

Edwin Williams 40:07
People are willing to give you advice and help if you admit that, “Okay, we made a bad decision. You understand why we made that decision. Now will you help us figure out how to get out of it.”

Edwin Williams 41:47
We all come from different backgrounds, and I like that I don’t get a consensus. If I said “Hey, let’s go this way,” it’s hardly ever a “Okay, we’ll do that too. Have you thought about this? Have you thought about that? And I like that. And so, working with different viewpoints and then learning to come to a decision that everybody is comfortable with has been the biggest lesson that I’ve gotten from working with others.

Resources

Tags:

risk, challenge, listing, competition, adapt, responsibility, emotional intelligence, decision making

What are the potential risks versus possible rewards – and what is the downside – of not making the investment?

We make choices all the time. Today, we’re taking a closer look at the unchosen path to find out the risk of letting it go, not taking action, or choosing a different path. When we think about what could be part of our decision-making process, we better understand the risks of our choice. Jess Dewell hosts Edwin Williams to discuss the risk of NOT taking the next step.

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