Keep on swinging for the fence
There are a number of sayings swirling around in my mind right now: swing for the fence, put it all on the line, double down, go for gold, win at all costs. While they have nuanced differences, fundamentally, each one urges us to push limits and take a chance.
Swing for the fence is derived from baseball, when a player takes a big swing in the hope of hitting a home run. The reason most players don’t swing for the fence is that it increases the odds of striking out.
The bigger the bet, the greater the unpredictability, so they opt for safety and settle for hitting a single. In other words, they choose risk mitigation over potential reward maximisation.
If you want to achieve something big, then you’re going to have to take a big bet.
The bet I’m talking about means taking bold action to achieve your goals. When the odds are stacked against you, you might just have to do something odd to succeed.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is making a big bet right now. As of November 4, they have amassed $52 billion (Dh191 billion) in Apple stock. Shareholders may be surprised that Buffett has put more than 10 per cent of Berkshire’s market cap at risk on a single technology stock, especially considering their big miss with IBM, and the decision might spark the question, “has he lost it?”
The answer, of course, is no. Berkshire Hathaway’s move may seem a step too far, but it’s based on sound logic. The sure things in life come from what’s already proven, and if you only act on those sureties, then you’ll never get a big windfall. In order to achieve something great, then like Buffett, you have to embrace uncertainty.
If there were consensus and surety in Buffett’s move, then it wouldn’t be a big bet. Instead, it would been seen as typical — a customary investment. But his gamble is huge and has come with outsized risk. By investing so heavily in Apple, the business magnate is choosing the potential future reward, regardless of the potential ramifications.
About a year ago, I was curious about how artificial intelligence really worked. Like most people, I was familiar with the term and I had a high-level appreciation of what it was, but I wanted to learn more.
After some thought, I figured the best way to go about it was to go back to school, and so that’s what I did: I hired a tutor and learnt how to code.
That’s when I knew I had to swing for the fence. Staring at lines of what looked like gibberish, intrigued me. It made me wonder, how can artificial intelligence help leaders be better than they’ve ever been before? I wanted to figure out how machine learning can do what leaders aren’t great at and free their time so they can focus on their strengths.
So, I hired a team of scientists, AI experts, to do exactly that. For me, it was a big bet that transformed my company from a CEO coaching and leadership firm into the world’s first company focused on AI for leadership.
When I chose to learn how to code, it was a bet. When I hired a data science team, the bet got bigger — we simply didn’t know what kind of impact we could make.
My question to you is, what big bet are you making? If you want to achieve something big, you’ll need to embrace the risk. Swing for the fence.
Personal Speak Tommy Weir