Planning I: Preparation, Scope, Quality, and Risk

Getting Started

You have heard of risk and probably, like the author of this devotion, think of it as a negative aspect of a project. You may have never heard of positive risk before. According to Spacey (2016), “Positive risk is the chance that your objectives will produce too much of a good thing. Positive risks are deemed as undesirable despite being positive at face value.”

Have you ever thought that a product seems to wear out at the same time as the warranty? That is called planned obsolescence in order to generate new sales. If a product lasts too long, then the company could go out of business once the market was saturated. Making a product difficult to repair to cause sales in services is another reaction to positive risk—if products were easy to maintain, service would no longer be a viable business. Examples of items that are notoriously hard to repair yourself are smart phones and car computers.

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

• Apply a biblical perspective to the concept of positive risk.

Resources

• Website: Bible Gateway
• Article: 9 Examples of Positive Risk

Background Information

There are examples of positive risk that are mentioned in the article by Spacey (2016). Most if not all of these can be thought of as opportunities.

Those examples of positive risk include:

• Project management error when the project does not use all of the budget.
• Product lasting too long – example: a bridge lasts more years from over-engineering.
• Income rising and forcing you into a new tax bracket.
• Investments too conservative.
• Marketing causing sales cannibalism (new product causing too many sales and as a result, underselling occurs on existing products or services).
• Career management – taking on too much responsibility to be effective.
• Project being delivered too early – sign of poor planning.
• Marketing causes too much of a good thing that it causes trouble – tourism was the example.
• Over-engineering of product so it lasts too long (this risk is similar to the second item above).

The scripture in Galatians 6:10 speaks about opportunity to do good to everyone. Seeing positive risk as an opportunity is counter-intuitive sometimes to what we think of as risk management. In the passage from Luke that follows, we see that love of possessions can be a weakness, and thus being too fortunate without guarding against sin can be a problem.

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.Galatians 6:10

And He said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”Luke 12:15

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. Read the Introduction and Alignment and the Background Information sections.
3. Read John Spacey’s article, 9 Examples of Positive Risk, to make sure you understand the concept of positive risk.
4. Navigate to the discussion thread and answer the following prompt(s):
   1. Name two positive risks that you have experienced in your life or career.
   2. Can too much success or fame or riches be a problem? How and why, or why not?
5. In contrast to some of your prior courses, your initial post is due Day Three of the workshop, not Day Four. Initial posts should be at least 200 words.
6. Read and respond to at least two of your classmates’ postings, as well as all follow-up instructor questions directed to you, by the end of the workshop. Responses should be at least 100 words.
7. Use headings to organize your answers so that it is clear to which questions you are replying and to facilitate your classmates’ responses and any questions from your instructor.