Innovate Today! - Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation - page 129

Being honest with yourself and confronting mindsets, behaviors, or habits that
are getting in the way of our moving forward.

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Be passionate about your ideas and your career! It's your responsibility and no
one should be more passionate about seeing your ideas move forward.

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If you feel fearful at the mere thought of raising your hand, demanding an
opportunity, or striking out with a commitment toward an idea - don't worry -
it just means you're moving in the right direction. Turning fear into excitement
and enthusiasm can generate the additional fuel you need to blaze the path
into your new level of commitment. Fear and excitement are closely related
emotions and, if we reflect on times of excitement, even in positive situations
we can identify some of the common feelings we have when we're fearful. So
whatever you do, don't ever let fear be a reason to hesitate in committing to
your goals.

Step 2: Calculate the Risk
Any new endeavor will involve risks and the level of risks must be determined
to recognize that to succeed in innovation requires a willingness to accept
a higher level of risk than non-innovators. Lerner states that “accomplished
people take Smart Risks by analyzing the possible outcomes of their actions,
looking at the timing of a goal, consideration of the compatibility with their
passions, weighing it with their priorities, and trusting their intuition about the
'rightness of taking the risk.' ” [6] When these factors are all evaluated and
align more positively than negatively, this should signal a need to accept the
risks. To assess the risk, Lerner provides a Risk Quotient that is comprised of
three components: [6]

1. Analyzing the pros and cons of taking a risk using a Risk Quotient Balance
Sheet.

Create a table that shows the Pros vs Cons for each major decision factor in
assessing the risk

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Attach a priority level from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important)
and assign a priority level to each Pro and Con in your table

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Sum the values for each column and compare them; the highest rating
gives you the guidance to make your decision about whether or not the risk
should be taken.

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I have provided an example of how to use the Risk Quotient Balance Sheet
through my evaluation of whether or not to take a visiting professorship in the
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) in 1998 ( Figure 6.1 ).
At the time of my decision, I did not have the benefit of this tool; however,
my decision was to accept the challenge and take the visiting professorship
at MIT.