Re:‘Positive deviants’: Why rebellious workers spark great i...
by TheOtherHobbes on Monday June 14, 2021 @02:19PM
(#27506176)
Risk taking is only a problem if it demands resources that would starve other known-good projects.
Sometimes even that doesn't make it a problem, because the company may decided top-to-bottom that New Project X is a good idea, even when it's extremely risky.
This can create spectacular success when it works and catastrophic failure when it doesn't. Either way, this kind of strategic risk should go through the C-suite.
Smaller tactical projects are what Fridays are for. Throw some nominal resources at engineers, give them some free time, and see what happens. If they can produce a working proof of concept - not just a cloud of PowerPoint and meetings - you may have something to run with.
On the one hands, if people just do what they want, it's total chaos. Everyone thinks they know best. Everyone wants to be a creative genius (ok, maybe not everybody, but a lot of people). Management needs to make things actually productive (exploit rather than explore).
On the other hand, sometimes someone really is onto a good thing. Ideally, they'd instantly be recognised for this, and given a team and support staff, but managers aren't gods, they're just human beings.
Here's an adaptive solution internal "risk taking" innovation is discouraged, but not usually a firing offense (depending on the time / resources spent, and whether you're keeping up with the rest of your work), because occasionally there is a big win that comes out of this.