Question

Agree? Disagree and Why?

Question: Are decision makers risk takers or risk avoiders?

Answer: I believe that decision makers are a blend of both risk takers and risk avoiders, however they tend to lean more one way or another. Some great leaders can be known as risk takers, and had it pay off well for them, and some have failed. I would say the culture of the business has an impact as well, which can influence the decision maker. Where I work, taking risks has been historically encouraged, the culture is one where failure isn't a bad word, as long as we learn from it. This has led to some major advancements in processes and first to market opportunities with products and services. Conversely the risk taking has led to some financial setbacks and regulatory scrutiny. I think the most influential leaders arent scared to take risks, although they are usually calculated or educated risks. Think about the Minmax Regret Approach, where you try to essentially strike a balance between the risk advantage and disadvantage.

I tend toward being risk averse in my approach, both professionally and personally. I don't tend to "jump" as quickly at opportunities as I could, and have experienced my fair share of regret. There was a time when I was younger and an acquaintance asked me to a lunch meeting. He wanted to get me to buy into his business venture of putting DVD kiosks outside gas stations in the small town we were in, in south Texas. He was selling it quite well, and i ultimately decided to keep the money in my bank, rather than with him. 2 years later I was stunned when RedBox essentially helped put Blockbuster out of business. I never thought it would happen. He knew it would, and was willing to take the risk. He put everything he had in, and it paid off!

Answer 1

(In reference to the post above, i agree )

The decision maker is a person who takes decisions based on the merit ,considers all factors and evaluates his decisions based on that before finalizing one. Judging a decision based on the result of that decision is also incorrect since there is always uncertainty enclosed in certain unforeseen and unfortunate events that you can not account for.

A decision maker is the person that acts on the merits of the decision, situation and the consequences tied to that event. There is no perfect definition of a decision maker in regards to his reaction to risks since the risks do not paint a complete picture. Decision makes are people who react to opportunities, someties to risky ones ,while other times gravitating towards the ones with less risk factor.