Quote of the Day: Risks and Results

 

“You don’t concentrate on risks. You concentrate on results. No risk is too great to prevent the necessary job from getting done.” – Chuck Yeager

Today we focus almost exclusively on the risk of any new endeavor, not the results. Yet Chuck Yeager is right – if the potential results justify it, the risks are worth taking. But nothing ever gets done if you consider the risks as more important than the results and concentrate on the risks instead of the results.

Note the word “necessary” in the quote. He isn’t talking about a “Hey, y’all hold muh beer and watch this!” risk. He is talking about a goal that is worth achieving, whether it is breaking the sound barrier, placing a man in orbit, landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely, or landing on Mars for the first time. Or even more prosaic, everyday jobs – taking a container ship from its departure port to a destination, finishing a building, or writing a book.

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  1. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Seawriter: Or even more prosaic, everyday jobs – taking a container ship from its departure port to a destination, finishing a building, or writing a book.

    Ooh! Ooh! I’m a risktaker, too!

    • #1
  2. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Seawriter: Or even more prosaic, everyday jobs – taking a container ship from its departure port to a destination, finishing a building, or writing a book.

    Ooh! Ooh! I’m a risktaker, too!

    You would be amazed at the number of people I have talked to who said they would never write a book because it was too risky. What risk, I always thought, but I guess the fear of rejection is just too great in some people.

    • #2
  3. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Seawriter (View Comment):
    What risk, I always thought, but I guess the fear of rejection is just too great in some people.

    I’ve been rejected by better. 😁

    • #3
  4. Kay of MT Inactive
    Kay of MT
    @KayofMT

    Oh YES!

    • #4
  5. Vectorman Inactive
    Vectorman
    @Vectorman

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Seawriter: Or even more prosaic, everyday jobs – taking a container ship from its departure port to a destination, finishing a building, or writing a book.

    Ooh! Ooh! I’m a risktaker, too!

    You would be amazed at the number of people I have talked to who said they would never write a book because it was too risky. What risk, I always thought, but I guess the fear of rejection is just too great in some people.

    I don’t fear rejection, I … just … write … slow, so is writing the best use of my time? 


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    • #5
  6. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Vectorman (View Comment):
    I don’t fear rejection, I … just … write … slow, so is writing the best use of my time? 

    Depends upon the results, doesn’t it?

    • #6
  7. Quietpi Member
    Quietpi
    @Quietpi

    In my occupations I’ve met some interesting people, often – maybe usually – by chance.  They were usually ordinary people who did  or knew something about something.  With my basically scientific background I usually understood their often esoteric lingo (most of my coworkers had liberal arts backgrounds, didn’t know a quoit from a qwark).  When they caught on that I actually understood them, they were happy to talk.  I would put my notebook away and just listen. 

    Once I was canvassing a neighborhood, and I ended up interviewing a guy who, it turned out, sold ultralight aircraft.  He had recently come from a company conference.  Chuck Yeager was a spokesman, and was on the platform while the president presented a new model.  Among the “ooh’s” and “ahh’s,” the president tossed the key to Yeager, and said, go ahead! Take it up!  Yeager looked at the key for a moment, then tossed it back.  Are you crazy? Yeager asked.  I haven’t been checked out on it.  I’m still alive because I don’t take stupid risks. 

    Based on what I know of Yeager’s life, his risk calculations may be a bit different than most of us.  Still…

    Food for thought.

    • #7
  8. Vectorman Inactive
    Vectorman
    @Vectorman

    Quietpi (View Comment):
    Yeager looked at the key for a moment, then tossed it back. Are you crazy? Yeager asked. I haven’t been checked out on it. I’m still alive because I don’t take stupid risks. 

    Even though Yeager had the West Virginian “ah, shucks!” appearance, he was a test engineer and knew the Bell X-1 thoroughly. When he got close to the speed of sound, the traditional horizontal stabilizer was not controlling the aircraft properly. He used the horizontal trim for control. This led to the “flying tail” or Stabilator for supersonic aircraft:

    Stabilators were developed to achieve adequate pitch control in supersonic flight, and are almost universal on modern military combat aircraft. All non-delta-winged supersonic aircraft use stabilators because with conventional control surfaces, shock waves can form past the elevator hinge, causing severe mach tuck.

    • #8
  9. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Quietpi (View Comment):
    . . . I ended up interviewing a guy who, it turned out, sold ultralight aircraft. He had recently come from a company conference. Chuck Yeager was a spokesman, and was on the platform while the president presented a new model. Among the “ooh’s” and “ahh’s,” the president tossed the key to Yeager, and said, go ahead! Take it up! Yeager looked at the key for a moment, then tossed it back. Are you crazy? Yeager asked. I haven’t been checked out on it. I’m still alive because I don’t take stupid risks. 

    Sounds like he did not consider flying the ultralight as a “necessary result.”

    • #9
  10. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    “Never tell me the odds!” is a great movie line but has no place in a test program. 

    • #10
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