What Kayaking Taught Me About Risk Management

It actually started in my late teen years. As a new driver, I’d see a pothole - I’d hit a pothole. See a pothole. Hit a pothole. It was an endless loop. And it was even worse when someone was riding with me.

Scene: (driving down the road, pothole ahead)

Inside my head: Oh, there’s a pothole. Definitely go around it. Wait, wait…am I around it? I feel like I’m going towards it. Yikes! I’m definitely going towards it. Maybe I can go over it inst…*buhbump*!

Passenger: Why did you do that? Didn’t you see that massive pothole?

Me (in a completely defeated tone): Yes, I saw it.

Passenger: Why didn’t you go around it?

Me (in same defeated tone): I tried. I know. Don’t ask.

I would say my average was possibly hitting 90% of the potholes I saw and tried to avoid.

As I became more aware of my tendency to gravitate toward potholes, I started noticing the same with bike riding. I’d see a stone, or nut, or some small obstacle that I’d want to avoid and bam – drove right into it. What was my problem? Was it physics? Was my energy drawing me toward potential tire bursting events? Did I need to have my vision checked?

It wasn’t until I started kayaking that I figured it out. It only took running into 2 large limbs for me to determine the issue.

I saw the limbs. This was a creek – not Niagara Falls. I had the strength to paddle away from them. Yet both times no matter how hard I focused on the limb – bam, smack into it.

Did you catch my issue? (If not, no worries – it took me 30+ years to figure it out!) I kept my focus on the limb - the pothole, the nut. Whatever I wanted to avoid is what I focused on. Whatever I focused on was what I gravitated toward.

Instantly I thought about risk management and planning. The next time I saw a limb ahead I would acknowledge it, assess the situation, devise my plan of action, but maintain focus on my goal – the limb-free path through the creek. And guess what – it worked! I tried it again and got the same results. And again. And again. And again. I kept my gaze on where I wanted to go and paddled in a way that ensured I’d remain on the desired path. (Disclaimer: This is not kayaking advice as I’m still whatever skill level is below novice!)

It’s so easy to focus on the risks of a project and lose sight of where you actually want to end up. For over a year I focused on all the things that could go wrong if I tried to start my own business. Maintaining my focus on that kept me from doing the work I needed to start getting it off the ground. As soon as I made the goal my focus, while still planning for and managing the potential risks, well here I am with blog #2 and the motivation to continue forward progress.

It’s definitely important to take the time to recognize potential risks, log them, and devise mitigation or contingency plans, but it’s even more important to maintain focus on the final goal and continue the work (or paddling) required to make it to the finish line!

To learn more about Risk Management, check out my ever-growing course catalogue here!