How to Deal with Uncertainty and Risk?
September 1st, 2010 | 
Author: It is worth starting, making the distinction between risk and uncertainty. Both reflect the ignorance of what will happen or the outcome to obtain in the future, the difference is that the risk is measurable. When we say that there is a 30% chance of loss or gain, we are managing the risk.
The risk is manageable, uncertainty, no. Because of this, you can not make decisions when you have uncertainty, since there is no way to measure the impact of the decision. However, when you can measure the potential loss, there can make a decision.
If you manage to sleep, there is a high probability of having an accident, that is measurable or at least I can understand the scope of impact, so the decision to drive or can not be considered, i.e. you have the cards on the table.
The uncertainty would be like the famous prize contests where you stand in front of a door and asked to open it, do not tell you anything else, so you have no idea what might happen, you can win a prize or may be bathed in paint. In this scenario, you can not plan; you can not take any decision.
What to do?
With Uncertainty: First try to stay calm and get as much information as possible, however, do not take the foot of the lyrics, everything they say on television, in print or on social networks. This is because many times the information that you need not have to be full of nuances that are not going to make more profit.
The information collected should enable you to get an idea of the problem and its consequences, for example, if the executive is expected to take economic measures, try to understand the real impact for you not for the collective points of view that such measures can affect and to what extent.
If possible, worth the wait, no rush, it is preferable to a hasty decision later. This is why it’s worth trying to build various scenarios with their respective consequences. Imagine you are playing chess and is considering several moves advanced.
At risk: As you already know what can happen, is to look as healthy as this situation that is more conducive or otherwise affecting him less. The best thing is to seek tools and solutions can support you more, for example, if the announcement of economic measures that we discussed earlier, an increase of interest rates and you can determine what impact this has a negative savings 20%, you have to do is find ways to prevent loss or ways to recover, for which you should be informed of their options, the instruments available in the market and its ability to acquire them.
Perhaps the most successful strategy, is trying to convert the maximum amount of uncertainty in risk and then make the decisions that most favor.
