The Real Danger of Taking a Chance

[Reblog]

I’ve been thinking about the implications that arise from society’s views on “taking chances” and what they really mean for me personally. Taking a chance is usually seen as foolish or brave, depending on who you’re talking to and how good of a mood they’re in. It means that you’re putting your neck in an uncomfortable place and unnecessarily exposing yourself to the cold. At the same time, it can lead to outcomes that completely change your life.

A cursory look at the statistics and backing logic tells you that taking a chance is not worth it. A 67-page analysis done by researchers at Stanford and UC Berkeley on high growth web and mobile startups found that out of 3,200 startups, 92% failed within 3 years. Beyond the raw numbers, society also discourages taking chances. Instead, society directs people down the well-trodden and safe path. In principle, this is a good societal trend because it maximizes ‘success per person’. So literally, and in the words of DJ Khaled:

Originally from http://www.theydontwantyouto.win/

But how can this be?! If society scares us away from taking chances, how can we ever move forward? How can we change the status quo if we’re not willing to try risky ideas?

I honestly believe that taking a chance is not as scary as it seems. It seems scary because the world wants it to seem that way. However, I think that a lot of success can be manufactured from a combination of hard work, environment, and good attitude. I believe that if you want something enough*, you can make it happen. For these reasons, I think that the phrase “taking a chance” is misleading. Taking a chance should not be applied to things like startups and new ventures, instead it should remain with things that you have no control over like Math.random() or the roll of a die.

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For startups, there are many other factors that you have control over. I think the real danger of the phrase “taking a chance” is that it limits people from doing great and amazing things.

* Something reasonable of course