The Business of Risk

Tim Brown is the is CEO and president of IDEO and Vice-Chair of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Design.

By Tim Brown (@tceb62)

Risk is clearly central to the agenda here in Dubai this week but I worry about how narrowly the topic is being considered. The implication is that risks are only negative, something to be feared and that they are best avoided where possible. Clearly this is not realistic and much of the conversation consequently is about risk mitigation and what to do when the worst happens.

Science, innovation and design looks at risk differently. Risk is a positive and essential component of innovation and creativity. Without risk the potential to discover the unknown is lost and hence science and design have over hundreds of years established processes and mechanisms for managing it. Experiments are designed to test hypotheses and understand truth. Prototypes are designed to put provisional designs into a state where they can be tested. Better understanding the relationships between users and technology (a key element of design) and the use of scenarios to describe future worlds helps make risk, and reward, less abstract.

Let's take the opportunity of this gathering to expand our relationship to risk. Instead of seeing it as the enemy of progress we should see it as an inevitable and productive partner that can be managed through the well established processes of science, innovation and design.