Uncertainty Vs. Risk

Charles Ellis differentiates risk from uncertainty and talks about dealing with each.

I separate it into uncertainty, which everybody is going to face at all times, for ever, and risk. And I would avoid risk on the major things. For an example, I would be very careful to avoid the risk of debt being called when you can least afford it, I’d be very careful in the risk of empowering people beyond their capacities, now I’d be very careful on the risk of an acquisition or merger or some other major new business development, that’s where real risk comes up and it can hurt you something awful. Uncertainty we’re all going to live with day after day after day after day, so that’s a matter of developing the capacity to be flexible and adaptive and try always to be taking the initiative but also be realistic about what’s going on and be fact founded and objective in your appraisal of what are the problems you are dealing with. Then, try to be very thoughtfully creative in how you deal with those problems.