Taking risks necessary to move Air Force forward

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Peter O'Neill
  • 60th Contracting Squadron
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Have you heard the saying, “nothing ventured, nothing gained?”

What about “he who never undertook anything, never achieved anything?”

They’re statements that implore us to take risks. Risk-taking is necessary to bridge the gap between the current state and desired end state. It is embarking on the unknown, realizing triumph and tragedy have equal sway. Unfortunately, many Air Force leaders today are so reluctant to fail that they’ve actually become risk averse. What does it mean to be risk averse and how do we reverse the trend?

By definition, risk is exposing something or someone to danger, harm or loss. It’s an inherent component within the profession of arms that successful leaders throughout history have embraced. Leaders seldom have all the facts before making complex decisions so they must calculate the risk, review courses of action and move out. Recall Billy Mitchell who risked his career arguing for air power and William Tunner who flew “The Hump” over the Himalayas. Both took chances and the Air Force flourished.

Risk aversion is the inability to accept even minimal risk. Financially, risk averse investors favor low-risk, low return to high-risk, high yield options. In our profession, being risk averse means being too timid to attempt something that might fail. 

There are many reasons why leaders become risk averse. Some believe the consequences of failure outweigh the potential for success. Some will only accept a 90 percent solution. Some are afraid of perceptions. Many just don’t want to listen to the Monday morning quarterback. I once had a commander tell me the optics of taking certain risks require so much explanation that even overwhelmingly win-win solutions aren’t worth the hassle.

How do we change our risk averse nature? The short answer is to act like you are a CEO. You are solely responsible for the company’s success. Failure to modernize and produce efficiencies puts you out of business. Once you understand the importance, you’ll take a chance on new technologies. You’ll send your personnel to the new certification courses. You’ll stop the triple redundancy when you know processes are solid. You’ll change configurations. You’ll ask for policy waivers because you know we aren’t operating under optimal conditions.

Let’s be clear. I am not advocating taking unnecessary risks or ignoring operational risk management principals. All leaders should know the pitfalls and select the appropriate level of risk to accomplish the mission. However, if you aren’t endangering lives or destroying property, the Air Force absolutely needs you to find a way to move the needle. 

Accepting risk is a team sport and starts from the top down. Senior leaders must foster a climate that enables Airmen to view risk in terms of opportunity rather than disaster.  Commanders and superintendents can’t crush Airmen when they suggest ideas that fail.

If failure does occur, supervisors should make it a teaching tool rather than the first step on the road to separation. Lastly, all Airmen should understand progress is seldom achieved without taking that essential leap of faith now and then.