Stop Playing Safe. Margie Warrell

I knew cashed in their entire retirement savings, fearing Armageddon was nigh), I felt compelled to update this book and streamline it.

      Of course, there will always be legitimate reasons for going with the safest option. Yet when uncertainty looms large, we must be all the more vigilant to discern between the fears that are serving us and those that are driving us to make overly cautious decisions in our work, in how we live and how we lead. Because while playing it too safe can provide a short-term sense of security, it ultimately keeps us from taking the very actions that would help us become more secure — individually and collectively — over the longer term.

While the world may feel like a riskier place today, the truth is that there have always been risks. The difference is that in today's digital 24/7 world, we're now continually bombarded with information that makes life appear riskier. Only when we dare to ‘lean towards risk’ and venture onto new ground can we seize the opportunities hidden within our challenges, turning our setbacks into stepping stones, and leading ourselves and others to higher ground and a more, not less, secure world.

      So if the title of this book spoke to you, it wasn't by chance. I hope the pages that follow will embolden you to embrace uncertainty and take the risks required to open up new possibilities for you and those around you.

      In today’s culture of fear, daring to rise above our instinctual desire to play it safe, to take brave action amid the risks, has become ever more imperative.

INTRODUCTION

      Please indulge me for just one moment with a little game of ‘make believe’.

      Imagine stepping into the shoes of your ‘future self’, ten years from now, looking back on you today, reading this, facing an unknown future but eager to make the most of it.

      What would you love to have experienced in your work and career, and in your life outside it? What impact would you love to have made on the lives of others? What skills or mastery would you like to have gained? What kind of person would you like to have become?

      Ten years may feel like a long time away right now. Yet you thought that ten years ago and look … here you are.

      So the next ten years is going to pass for you one way or another. The question is, what will you do with it?

      Life is the lump sum of our choices. Too often, though, our choices are driven by fear — fear of what might go wrong; fear of not having what it takes; fear of making a fool of ourselves, ‘found out’ as unworthy or inadequate in some way. Often, we're not even aware of how fear is pulling the invisible strings of our daily decisions but if you're not waking up inspired by your future, then it most certainly is.

      We live in a culture of fear, so it's little wonder that despite people living longer today than at any point in history — indicating fewer (not more!) threats to our survival — millions of people today spend their lives living in the shadow of fear, continually avoiding what scares them rather than pursuing what inspires them.

The term VUCA was coined to describe the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous nature of modern life. But let's be honest here — we've never had certainty! However, in our overwired lives today, our news streams bombard us with reasons to bite our nails, stock up on toilet paper and play it safe. Fear has become normalised to the point that we cannot even recognise how many decisions are driven by it.

      Yet time and time again history has shown that when fear runs most rampant, brave action reaps the greatest rewards. It's why we must be deliberate not to let fear sit in the driver's seat of our lives. We must commit to being braver — in how we work, live and lead.

      Countless times in my own life, from my relatively confined childhood on a small dairy farm in rural Australia to my adult life living around the world from Papua New Guinea to Singapore, I have found that each time I decide to take action in the presence of my fear — to not play life safe — I dilute the power fear holds over me and amplify my own.

      The world has weathered one heck of a storm since the first edition of this book. Before the COVID-19 pandemic I used to write about how afraid some people were of killer viruses and how unlikely a pandemic actually is. Well … the unlikely event happened and most of us were caught off guard anyway. It triggered a cascading crisis that dialled up the fear factor in our homes and communities, in our schools and organisations, and at decision-making tables the world over.

       Left unchecked, fear can narrow our thinking, derail our decision-making and keep us from seeing, much less seizing, the opportunities that always exist amid disruption, although often out of plain sight. It can also drive us to over-estimate the risks, making us suffer more from our fear than from the source of it.

      It's why, in this VUCA world we inhabit, the thinking and behaviours that got you to where you are today will be insufficient to take you to where you want to be ten years from now. As the world has changed, so too must you change how you engage in it.

I have written this book because I hold a deep and unwavering belief in our potential as ‘human becomings’ to create lives rich in meaning and to move all humanity to higher ground. Yet in my work that spans many countries, cultures and continents, I constantly encounter people trapped inside prisons of their own making, hemmed in by the borders of their own imagination, living under the long shadow of fear.

      The truth is that you have all the resources within you to create a deeply meaningful and rewarding life, regardless of what you've done (or failed to do) before, or what is going on in your life right now. However, if you sometimes wonder otherwise, you're not alone. Global employee surveys tell us that millions of people think that what they do each day doesn't matter and that they are powerless to change their environment. The cost to the commercial bottom line is in the billions. The cost to the human spirit is immeasurable. Underlying this disengagement is fear in many guises — of failure, success, rejection, exposure, not having enough … of not being enough.

      Countless business books are filled with strategies for becoming a more proficient networker, strategist, salesperson, negotiator, ‘hi-po’ employee and leader. Very few address the deep-seated fears and complex interplay of unconscious cognitive biases that form the human condition, and that keep us from applying them.

      While this book is written for you, the individual, it will benefit any team, enterprise or organisation. After all, organisations are made up of people. As such, people are their number one resource and the fear that stifles their potential — their creativity, collaboration and collective ingenuity — is their number one threat. No organisation can compete in today's world unless those who are part of it feel emboldened to ‘push the envelope’ of possibility. This entails risk and demands courage.

      This book comprises eight chapters, divided into three parts.

      Part I: Core Courage (chapters 1 to 3) forms the foundation for all good decision making and forward-leaning action.

Part II: Working Courage (chapters 4 to 7) provides concepts and practical strategies to be more courageous and effective in handling the challenges and seizing the opportunities in your work and life.

      Part III: Take Courage (chapter 8) is where the rubber hits the road as you make the changes that prompted you to pick up this book in the first place. Part III will set you up for success, creating an environment that emboldens you to take smarter risks and pave