Risky Freedom
Life endangers health – this saying immediately gets to the point of what is so important for (economic) organisations, entrepreneurs and managers: There are no actions which don’t (could not) cause damage or don’t contain (could not contain) disadvantages. The utilisation of freedom (=making decisions) also harbours dangers for others as well as oneself. Freedom is risky. Nobody can do everything correctly or work exclusively in areas in which he does not affect the life of another (unfavourably). Or, as the evangelist already knows: even the righteous fall 7 times a day. (It is self-understood that this train of thought is not a legitimisation for deliberate, damage-causing activities).
In view of this, the effort which drive many people and social systems to do everything (completely) right and to recognise and implement the ‘good’, is astonishing. Organisations, like all social systems, are dependent upon their members knowing that an ideal world cannot exist, i.e. that organisational action always creates winners and losers. If other expectations are in play, or are being created, disappointment is pre-programmed and it becomes difficult to gain agreement for decisions which are not capable of bringing forth consensus. The ability of decision-makers to handle competently the inevitable feelings of culpability is, therefore, particularly important.