Are you an uncertainty balancer?

"The Upside of Uncertainty” was written by Nathan Furr, Professor of Strategy at INSEAD and his wife Susannah Furr, who is an entrepreneur. One of the concepts described in their book is the idea of 'uncertainty balancers'. By which is meant that people who take great risks professionally are sometimes very conservative in their personal lives. And vice versa. 

Look at Steve Jobs, arguably one of the most disruptive and innovative thinkers in the world of technology, who wore the exact same outfit every day, a combination of an Issey Miyake black mock turtleneck with a pair of Levi's 501 jeans. Or, the other way around, you also have government bureaucrats or accountants who perform the very same routine tedious tasks every single day at work, yet who do bungee jumping and skydiving in the weekend, or who will tear through the countryside like unshaven bandanna wearing road pirates on a Harley-Davidson.

This balancing act between professional and personal risk-taking is a way for individuals to manage their overall exposure to uncertainty. By compartmentalizing their risk tolerance, they create a dynamic equilibrium that allows them to maintain a sense of control and fulfillment. This duality allows them to harness the benefits of taking calculated risks while ensuring they have a sanctuary of predictability to fall back on. 

This nuanced approach to managing uncertainty not only highlights the complexity of human behavior but also underscores the diverse ways in which people strive to achieve equilibrium in their lives.

It probably explains why I, on the one hand, loved starting up 3 companies, experiencing the risk more like excitement than anything else, while on the other hand being described by my family as the most steadfast, stable and stodgy person you can imagine.