Artisans, Administrators and Attitudes to Risk.
Risk is always about probabilities and appetite. In part it's determined by personal attitude, but in an industrial society probably more often by the role we fill.
Administrators and bureaucrats are paid to be risk averse, and for them the appearance of risk is a black mark. They may have a hands off relationship with risk - it is unlikely to affect them physically - but it's occurrence on their watch is likely to lead being appointed to the equivalent of paper clip administrator in some far flung outpost of the organisation that few have heard of. We do not want administrators to take risks, we want them to extract every last ounce of efficiency from what we understand and believe we can control. An administrator with an appetite for risk will have a very short career and most likely a spectacular finale to it.
For an artisan however, risk is lifeblood. They are not interested in doing more of the same. whatever they do they are always pushing at the edges of what they und…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Outside the Walls to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.