Organise Risk-taking: G2

Risking via Commitment

Risking is dangerous, by definition. Some risks can be avoided but not all. Life without risk is not possible and while risk-taking must be accepted it can be focused and tamed.

Risk-taking appears to be an intrinsic part of looking out for yourself. Taming requires a pro-active approach in which the effort is analyzed for its risks, and the risky elements in the process are organised and managed.

By adding one adjacent monad, 6 dyadic groups are formed, each of which represents an important risky initiative.

The qualifierfor risk-taking emerges from power-centredness and is proposed as resolutely. This means that in moving forward with the risky proposition you must be firm, bold, determined, relentless and unwavering. You cannot ensure your own interests if you are dithering, wavering, irresolute and over-cautious.

The effect of being resolute is that you are making a commitment, and the dyads generate 3 groups in that regard:

• Impersonal commitment i.e. facing up to challenges without any expectation of special treatment or charity in the lower two dyads: making a dealand selling yourself .

• Group commitment i.e. being ready to enter, join, form, manage and use your groups in the middle two dyads: growing your activity and facilitating dependency.

• Personal commitment i.e. facing yourself and the quality of relationships that you can develop in the upper two dyads: selecting your associates and determining your path.

The 6 Dyadic Groups

G2¹: Make a Deal

Function: To use your resources well.

You need to secure your finances, but that should be based on using your strengths.

«Make a deal» is a generic label referring to or any commitment—enter a trade, buy a machine, take a job, employ a person—where sooner or later you expect to benefit financially. All commitments of this sort are risky because you do not know how they will turn out. The risk may be felt most intensely at the moment of commitment, but it persists as long as the deal is operative.

Your attempt to secure finances (CL1) via the deal will be in competition with others. Applying your resources and other strengths including expertise (CL2) resolutely both in the decision and in the follow-through is essential.

The dyadic structure is shown at right.

Intrinsic Risks: The risk is that the deal goes awry sooner or later due to unexpected or unforeseeable events: the gain is not realized and losses may be threatened.
"Organising" means...

... doing what you can to mitigate the risk. This means not taking deals offered to you at face value, not succumbing to expedience, not imitating what others do. There are a range of checks that may be called for depending on the particular case. Following the initial commitment, there are a variety of monitoring tasks until the gain is realized or the deal is closed out or can be taken for granted.

G2²: Sell Yourself

Function: To get others to engage you without tangible proof.

You need to use your strengths, but that should be supported and directed by promoting your expertise.

When you apply for a new job or project or to join a team, you cannot know that you will succeed—nor does anyone on the other side. It is a risk for them and they will seek to consider a number of candidates. You need to use relevant strengths (CL2)to beat the competition. These strengths include your expertise, but often that is not the differentiating factor. Other strengths can be critical. They may be social like reputation or courtesy, psychological like willingness and enthusiasm, practical like convenience and speed, resource-based like access to a network or more finance.

Selling yourself needs a focus and that is naturally your expertise , which must be promoted (CL2)resolutely.

The dyadic structure is shown at right.

Intrinsic Risk: The risk is that you end-up in a situation that is impossible for you to manage and succeed, which would mean failure and likely reputational damage.
"Organising" means...

G2³: Grow your Activity

Function: To stabilize and strengthen your position.

You need to promote your expertise, and that should be supported and directed by representing your group.

Being complacent about your current state is passive and inherently risky because the world is in constant movement and competitors are always circling.

Growing any activity, project, outfit or enterprise which has you at the centre is likely to benefit you because, in a competitive world, bigger is stronger, safer, more admirable and more valuable. Growth typically improves stability, enhances reputation, enables diversification, and increases attractiveness to others. You may well end up with more control and more autonomy

In pursuing growth, there will be competition with others. So entering something completely new where you lack proven competence is unwise. Instead, you need to build on and promote your expertise (CL3). That promotion needs to be in the service of all involved in the activity. So you have to be resolute in representing your group (CL4).

The dyadic structure is shown at right.

Intrinsic Risk: The risk is that you dilute existing achievement and over-extend yourself or fail to retain the support of your group.
."Organising" means...

...planning for growth involves consulting with all who will be affected, planning ahead for the implementation of development, and especially being confident you can resource the expansion. As you grow, new challenges will emerge and these need to be anticipated and managed.

G2⁴: Facilitate Dependency

Function: To provide certainty regarding your inputs and/or outputs.

You need to represent your group, but that should be supported and directed by developing loyal trusting relationships..

In representing your group (CL5), you will typically be in competition with other groups for your inputs of supplies and services or your outputs to clients and customers. To be assured that these will not be interrupted, you need to be resolute in developing relationships (CL5). The stronger these relationships the more certain and confident you can be about getting what you need or of the demand for your service or product. The preferred result is for the external parties to depend on you because dependency makes it difficult for them to break off arrangements.

The dyadic structure is shown at right.

Intrinsic Risk: The risk is that dependency will operate in both ways. You will become dependent and therefore vulnerable.
"Organising" means....

... investigating those you are relating to so as to appreciate your significance for them, and vice versa. As both sides are continually evolving, this realities of dependency must be part of regular monitoring.

G2⁵: Select your Associates

Function: To identify and relate to others who can be useful to you.

You need to develop strong relationships, but that time and effort should be directed by performing analyses.

There is possibly no choice more critical to your future that selection of your close associates. This could include a business parter, your professional advisers, even your best friends and a life partner. It is necessary to resolutely perform analyses (CL6) in making such choices to avoid inadvertently engaging with someone quite inappropriate or lacking in desired qualities. While a transactional approach may get you impartial advice or cover social obligations, it will be is insufficient to guarantee trust and loyalty, or even the fullest attention. If you want to be able to depend on someone having your back, providing emotional support, doing whatever it takes, then you must develop a personal relationship (CL5)—and in this you will be competing with others in their network.

The dyadic structure is shown at right.

Intrinsic Risk: Any new person is an unknown in regard to their ability under pressure, reliability, personality and integrity. The risk is that your preferred associate lets you down when you least expect it, or their character drifts under stresses which you are unaware of, or he/she turns out to be a confidence trickster or fraud.
"Organising" means...

... not being naive about people and refusing to take protestations and self-affirmations at face value. You need to run background checks and get references from others whom you trust. The initial commitment, which simply starts the ball rolling, operates in both directions. You have to be continually working on the relationship and not simply expecting everything from the other person.

G2⁶: Determine your Path

Function: To guide beneficial practical choices into the future.

You need to perform analyses, but that should be supported and directed by being realistic.

Your life is an endless progression through situations, most of which pass unnoticed. However, periodically situations develop that demand careful analysis (CL6), by you and by many others also in that situation. Their analyses will compete with yours. Whether or not you see the value in their analyses, you are well-advised to apply multiple perspectives to create competing analyses of your own. Where the choice is critical in determining your path, then you must to be resolute in being realistic (CL7). That means not allowing wishful thinking, conformity to herd-thinking, or expedient passivity to shape your future.

The dyadic structure is shown at right.

Intrinsic Risk: The risk is that you are not seeing matters realistically because of blind spots, sheer ignorance, or pressures from others.
"Organising" means...

... checking out your analyses with others, exploring the applicability of various perspectives, bouncing views of advisers and confidants who know you and understand the issues. As in lower levels, the commitment is an ongoing process and your path requires continuous monitoring as situations continue to evolve and your choices come under pressure.

Transition

At this stage your personal vulnerability (G1) has been protected by immediate self-assertion, and through focused risk-taking (G2) you can establish a more lasting foothold in society.

However, you require broader social presence, one recognized by others; and this requires you to expose yourself so that others and see where you stand.

This is made possible by adding an additional adjacent level to form triads.

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• Continue with exposure-G3 Triads.
• Go to the review to see the full picture.

Originally posted: 30-Jun-2025