Thought Partners S3 E3: Risk, Riskier, Riskiest

How do you feel about risk, and when is a risk worth taking? Ed and Paul take on a two-part question from Beth Ardner in the Thought Partners Discord. They start out wary of the word, find the risk hiding in staying put, and land somewhere more useful: you can't avoid risk, so name it, sort it, and ask what happens if it works.

**Bring us the next question.** Join the Thought Partners Discord, add a question about change, or tell us about a risk that turned out to be worth it.
👉 https://discord.gg/5CU3xW4AD

We're on X now too: @ThoughtPtnrsPod (https://x.com/ThoughtPtnrsPod)

Timestamps
00:05 Welcome, and Beth's question from the Discord
02:48 Gut reaction: risk-averse
04:40 "A situation involving exposure to danger"
07:56 The risk you choose and the risk chosen for you
08:53 The risk Ed didn't choose
10:31 The risk of staying put
15:32 Comfortable, settled, stagnant
20:54 Name the risk before you decide
25:13 We take risks every day
28:29 Risk is change's partner
29:24 Safety, and when accidents happen
32:06 The board game Risk
36:15 What board games teach us
39:51 What if it works?
43:33 Letting go of the trapeze
44:51 When is a risk worth taking?
46:14 The risk of never trying
47:26 What to try this week
51:07 Risk, riskier, riskiest
52:17 Wrap

Try this week
- Notice your first reaction to a risk, then question it. Is it true, false, or do you not know yet?
- Ask "What if this does work?" as seriously as "What if it doesn't?"
- Name your risks and sort them: risky, riskier, riskiest.
- Look for the steps between either and or. It's rarely a straight choice between two things.

From the episode
- Who invented Risk? We asked you to look it up in the Discord, so here's the answer: French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse created it in 1957 as *La Conquête du Monde*, and Parker Brothers brought it to the US. Monopoly's story belongs to Lizzie Magie and *The Landlord's Game*.- Paul's quote: "Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good." Marcus Aurelius, *Meditations* 4.17.
- The trapeze callback is from Episode 2, "The Messy Middle," with Kyle Nelson and Deb Peters.

Thanks
To Beth Ardner for the question, and to everyone who upvoted it.

Hosts
Ed Buchanan & Paul Tonden

Music: "Momentum," original Thought Partners theme.