One of the great advantages of family holidays is the opportunity to learn from the younger generation. So often there is no end of surprises and you are walking away with your tail between your legs or nodding approvingly.

Why should we look for risk leadership from the uninitiated or those younger than us?:-

“Devil may care” Their carefree attitude can remind us of why we are doing all this in the first place and help shift our risk appetite to a more appropriate level.

“Ignorance is Bliss” Their ignorance will often lead to solutions. They may be ignorant of the risk, however, more importantly they will be less willing to give up and are more likely to fight for a solution.

“Technology Savvy” We know they are technology savvy so why not ask them about the technology. Don’t fall for the vendor’s sales pitch.

“Social Re-norming” We know there are social norms, however, the younger generations are “social re-norming” our society. If you don’t allow them to lead some of the way, you will fall further behind than you already are.

I know they say youth is wasted on the young but so too is experience wasted on the experienced. We forget too much of what we have learned, we forget how great it can be to take some risks because we have seen too many bad outcomes. We forget what we thought of the experienced when we were the inexperienced.

Don’t waste your experience, tap into the younger and uninitiated and help drive change in attitudes to risk taking – remind people of what helped them get to where they are today – youthful exuberance balanced with risk-based decision making. It’s not what you called it, but it was what it was!