For Boyd Stone, our charting expert

Hi Elizabeth,

> Dien, don't you think your "carefully
> weighted approach" has a lot to do with
> your background as a scientist. Everything
> you engage in has to be validated by
> tangible proof that it works.

Hmmmm... I don't know if I would say that. Scientists do experiments all the time before having "tangible proof that it works".... That's the point of doing the experiment....

To be honest, I think I prefer to do things that I'm NOT sure will work (it makes things more interesting).... :)

I would say rather I do a risk vs. reward analysis in my head.... I determine the down-side first. If I have everything to gain, and little to lose, then I'm more likely to go for it.... (Like in entering Pitchfest 2000.)

On the other hand, if there's a lot to lose, I'm a bit more cautious.... I do my research before jumping in. It all depends on the down-side risk....

I don't think it's unique to me.... Richard Branson talks about how he's always "taking care of the down-side" in his autobiography.... For him, "taking care of the down-side" usually means building an escape-hatch for himself in a deal, in case it doesn't go well....

The "leadership" comment I made was just giving an example of what some people say.... I don't necessarily agree with them! :)

Dien Rice