The risk of playing it safe

Here’s the riskiest move when everything feels uncertain: playing it safe.

In uncertain times, most businesses cling to what feels safe.
But the companies that thrive double down on creativity.

Because uncertainty isn’t a threat to innovation — it’s actually the fuel.
When old playbooks stop working, the leaders who win are the ones who ask bigger questions, challenge assumptions, and create space for bold new ideas.

But innovation is a human game — and, in our own lives, it also feels safer to follow the familiar path vs. take a leap into the unknown.

I experienced this just over a decade ago, when two very different opportunities landed on my plate at the same time:
1️⃣ A VP innovation role at a CPG company (a role I deeply respect, and one I felt prepared for after years at P&G — I understood its scope, its impact, and what success would look like)
2️⃣ A chance to step into entrepreneurship for the first time as co-founder of an innovation agency (bold, uncertain, and largely unknown to me at the time)

The corporate route felt safer because I could see it — I knew that world. But the entrepreneurial path was a leap into the dark. I had no map, no guarantees, no certainty of what it would become.

I was terrified, honestly. But choosing the riskier path opened up a future I couldn’t see (or even have imagined) from where I was standing at that point. It opened doors into industries, cultures, and continents I never expected to work in — and into relationships that changed the trajectory of my life.

More than anything, taking that leap expanded me — stretching how I see the world, how I lead, and what I believe is possible. And that’s what bold choices do: they don’t just change the work you do, they change the person you become.

And history tells the same story: the companies we admire most didn’t play it safe. They reimagined, adapted, and ventured into the unknown.

Bold doesn’t mean reckless.
It means thinking beyond the obvious and creating differently.
And empowering your people to do the same.

✨ Where in your business (or life) are you clinging to the safe path? And what bold move might unlock your next breakthrough?

If you want support designing the space, culture, and strategy for breakthrough innovation, let’s connect!

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