Janet CollinsThe Risk Generations
April 8th 2009 06:00
Is risk-taking a good or a bad thing? What is happening in the world today should change a whole generation or two’s attitude to taking risks but it is very unlikely to.
Risk seems to have become part of our lives, particularly over the last few decades. To be a risk-taker sets you apart, they say, from the non-achievers and those without ambition.
Risk, however, is meant to be measured. It is almost like knowing how deep the water is before we dive into it. Despite this, the risk factor seems to have been left out of business decisions for a long time now – particularly in the Banking and Finance sectors.
All those power point presentations we have been subjected to over the years were, after all, just that – presentations. Even personal developers climbed onto the bandwagon encouraging us to apply the obligatory SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) to almost everything we dared do in life.
There always seemed to be a contradiction to me in the whole picture of the risk-taker. If someone took a risk and was successful, that person would become something of a guru and a spokesperson for just about anything. If another person took a risk and things didn’t go to plan, they became a loser and a fool. One minute they can be hailed for daring to try. The next minute they are not worth even bothering about.
This whole culture of risk-taking behaviour is far removed from the generation that lived through the Great Depression and World War II, or even some of it. My parents were among them and I have watched throughout my life how living at that time had a great influence on their attitudes and behaviour throughout their lives.
Risk was not something they ever contemplated. Wasting anything was and still is avoided and even frowned upon. Taking the safest and most secure road to anything is something that was the only option. Extravagance was simply out of the question.
As much as my parents and most of their generation were addicted to security, so have many in the generations following them become addicted to risk, although those in the banking and finance industry have generally taken risk to new heights.
The other night I was listening to a report from the BBC on News Radio about a trend that has emerged among the finance and banking sector – men who have lost their jobs and their livelihood. It is adultery. These former Masters of the Universe - bankers, financiers and stock brokers - are pursuing extra-marital affairs as compensation for the loss of a life once revered.
Puzzled by why these men would jeopardise their family lives as well, the reporter consulted a few psychologists. The first one offered a belief that these men, stripped of their pretty important roles, needed to hug. Hugging, he said, would fill the void in their lives, - lives that were now empty. Not fully satisfied with this answer particularly because, as the reporter said, they could hug their children or even their wives, she sought further advice from another psychologist.
The second response made a lot more sense. The risk in their lives has been stripped from them and risk, for them at least, is an addiction. They are suffering severe withdrawal from the dare and the danger that consumed every working day. An extra-marital affair can fill the void, putting the danger and risk, to which they have become so accustomed, back into their lives.
There is no doubt that descending from the great heights of business to a life of no work takes its toll. At the same time many cannot feel sorry for them, especially those who have lost their savings or their superannuation to simple risqué behaviour. Will the loss of their jobs and, in some cases, careers change the way they behave?
If I compare it to my parents, who have let down their hair a little over decades, so to speak – they even splash out occasionally – I don’t think these people will change their stripes, even after the loss of a pretty well-paid job.
The fact is they have grown up, at least in their working lives, in a culture of risk and dare. Danger is what motivates them and excessive risks have been well rewarded for decades. The current trend towards adultery illustrates just how important risk is to them. Not even landing at rock bottom is likely to change all that.
Image credit: www.news.com.au
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Comment by Lady Henrietta Muddling
Potter in a Harry
It's interesting how people (especially psychs) try to find a reason for men womanising, when it's nothing to do with risk taking at all. It's basically they just think with their dicks.
Comment by Janet Collins
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I guess that's one way to look at it.
Comment by Cibbuano
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We've got the cushion, it seems, of previous generations' hard work! If you think about what people went through in times of war, well... that's a life that we can't imagine...
Comment by Janet Collins
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I agree that life was a lot tougher for previous generations but they were a bit obsessed with being secure because of what they went through. They very seldom changed jobs, something many of us think nothing about and everything was about saving for that rainy day.
In other ways they were far more brazen and tough than we are ever likely to be.
Thanks for dropping in.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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funny how we construct "risks" to feel alive, must hark back from running away from prehistoric predatory foes
Comment by Janet Collins
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It's funny how the highs and lows in life aren't enough of a challenge!
Comment by Wilson Pon
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Comment by Janet Collins
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Comment by The Rusty Can
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Interesting read, Janet.