It’s Day Five of my Twenty-One Tools post series! Today, you can download Does the Way We Relate to Risk Affect Our Innovative Potential
As of today, there is only one week left for attending the free Pre-Summit. How appropriate that I should be sharing an article with you today related to risk and innovation. Many of you would agree that taking risks almost always starts (or ends) with learning new things. Some would say that without risk, there can be no reward. Are you learning? Are you out there on the growing edge in your work? Then, you are no doubt learning. Way to go!!
I have most definitely been learning new things over the last few weeks. And, as many of you already know, I have been having a ball! I’m looking forward to the sessions that are on my calendar this week. I am kicking off with a session later today by Robert Biswas-Diener called Emotions In Coaching. Can’t wait.
I’ll continue posting the speaker gifts from the sessions even after the pre-summit is over. If you have been following along, you know there are twenty-one tools and I am going to share them with you over twenty-one days here. Tool number five is an article by Ian McDermott , Does the Way We Relate to Risk Affect Our Innovation.
This article has popped up at a perfect time for me. I’ve been doing so much learning over the last few weeks and really working to integrate what I learn. Ian encourages us to think of actions as experiments that help us keep moving forward, regardless of whether we see the results of these actions as successes or failures. That’s not so easy, but it is a critical mindset for forward movement!
Ian has written 15 books on systems thinking, coaching and NLP and works extensively with leaders and coaches. Two of his most recent books are:
The Collaborative Leader: The Ultimate Leadership Challenge, co-authored with L. Michael Hall
Principles of NLP: What it Is, How It Works and What and What it Can Do for You
Here’s a quote from Ian’s free WBECS download:
Think of your actions as experiments which you learn from. Here there is no such thing as failure, only feedback, which can then feed forward and help you improve future performance. With this mindset what you do becomes a dynamic learning process where the feedback you get helps you make in-course correction.
This can be true for you and for your clients whether they’re individuals or teams and organisations. With this mindset risk is understood to be part of the territory of living: you engage with it dynamically as opposed to living in fear of it. Instead of obsessively attempting to mistake-proof our life we recognise we’ll make mistakes but now we can bounce back because we’re open to learning and making the necessary adjustments.
This way of thinking can also be a way of working and can be applied in just about any industry. Fostering this situational awareness in everyone, ensuring that they have a voice and that they can speak up, causes them to hold themselves and their peers accountable. It actually fosters a more adult way of engaging with the world and that in turn means people are more empowered.
Does the Way We Relate to Risk Affect Our Innovative Potential Article
- Learn how to work with Risk
- Learn how to move and motivate people with The Risk Continuum
- Make Change Safer
Download the full article by Ian McDermott
Oh, and you can still register for WBECS 2018. Come join me!
Remember, this is not the only post with a downloadable professional development tool from WBECS 2018. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled. I’ll be posting 21 tools in 21 days. Enjoy!

Author: Cathy Shaughnessy
Cathy Shaughnessy is an ICF Assessor and PRISM award-winning ICF Master Certified Coach. Cathy mentors credentialed coaches and she creates tools and programs to assist coaches to successfully earn their ICF Credentials. Get more information on Cathy’s group mentor coaching programs here. Check out the latest resource for coaches, How to Learn the ICF Competencies – 32 Fun Activities to Get You Started.
Click the image below to download the Free Easy Tracking Form for Coaches and get tools and resources from Cathy!

Cathy Shaughnessy is an ICF Assessor and PRISM award-winning ICF Master Certified Coach. Cathy mentors credentialed coaches and she creates tools and programs to assist coaches to successfully earn their ICF Credentials. Get more information on Cathy’s group mentor coaching programs here. Check out the latest resource for coaches, How to Learn the ICF Competencies – 32 Fun Activities to Get You Started.
Click the image below to download the Free Easy Tracking Form for Coaches and get tools and resources from Cathy!