While I was working in General Electric as credit manager, some friends used to call me Dr. No.

Nothing to do with the infamous villain from Bond movies, but they said (and was not far from reality) that my only work was to say No from time to time to the credit operations that showed up in my table.

The fact is that saying no is much more difficult than saying yes, even when you are a credit manager. First, because nobody asked you further when you say yes.. and everybody is questioning your decision if it is a no. Second, the chances that a company bust (does not pay, goes into bankruptcy,. etc etc ) are limited in the very short term, so the consequences of your work won't be visible up to months later. In fact, I don't know many companies that keep a follow up on companies that they have rejected (so not chance of knowing if decision was good one.) Third, because the paper work is the same, so there are not many advantages of saying no, just your proud and the sense of quality of work...

And still, we say no, and we say yes... because a good risk management is not risk avoidance! The task at hand is to limit as much as possible the potential risks and improve as much as possible the profitability of the company at the same time. Risk Avoidance is easy (besides the questions and the paperwork and.. ) : just ask every single customer to pay upfront and there you are... but.. you are missing profitability.. you are missing many customers... The answer is risk management!

Take the best course of action with limited information and scarce time available. You need to be a cold heart person, not easily stressed, able to weight the pros and cons of every single deal, based in facts and with a bit of your inner sixt sense.

A few years ago, I went on holidays to Costa Rica. Days passed by quickly walking into beautiful forest, and watching active vulcanos,.. The last day I did bungee jump! A jump over a river at 80 m high! The place was dessert, no tourist, peaceful... nobody to ask for help ... humm...I took a risk, yes. A calculated risk. I could have avoid it but I didn't! I knew that the experience was worthy and the risk negligible. I took my time to ensure that everything was in order.. and jumped ! the fact is that you take decisions every day, every minute... and everyone is a risky one, but also a rewarding one... ..watch the video and think twice next time about risk and reward..