My dad was an insurance guy. He was a claims adjustor and an underwriter. His job was to ascertain risk and put a number to it. In other words, he would ask, “How risky is it really?”
He would travel to a building that was going to be insured. After examining it, he would report how much of a risk the building would be to insure. Were their fire hazards? Was the foundation sound? Were there any safety issues?
He would report to the insurance company and the customer. If the client made the improvements, they would save money. But if they took no action, it could cost the client more. Perhaps the insurance company would deem the property uninsurable.
We face risks every day. However, there are instances when we create a bigger risk by doing nothing.
“There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Risky Homework
A few years ago, I drew a cartoon about a boy that missed a homework deadline. He concluded he needed homework insurance. But the real problem is that he didn’t take the action needed to complete the assignment.
Perhaps he was distracted by something he considered more fun. Or he may have shunned his homework because he feared the risk of getting a bad grade. Regardless, his inaction insured that he would get a bad grade on the assignment. There are many ways we indulge in self-sabotage, isn’t there?
Take Action!
Sometimes, it is risky to take action. But may we have the discernment to realize when it is riskier to take no action. I don’t know if the JFK quote was about the space program. Perhaps it was. After all, sending astronauts to the moon was a very risky endeavor. And the president cast the vision when few thought it was possible.
As a result, the rewards outweighed the risks. But we didn’t know that until a country took the risk, did we? Comfortable inaction costs us much. It is better to take a risk. The cost of reaching a goal is far better than doing nothing.