I have been thinking a lot lately about the how the concepts of creativity, risk, and success are interrelated. Does a person or an organization have to be a risk-taker in order to be creative and thus successful? Does being risk-adverse result in creative stagnation and mediocrity at best or blatant failure at worst?

I was reminded the other day about a speech given by Sir Ken Robinson at the 2006 TED Conference, where he said, “if you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything creative”. He goes on to say that “we have become frightened of being wrong and stigmatize mistakes.” So Sir Robinson might argue that taking risks and not letting fear get in the way of bold action will result in higher levels of creativity and an increased probability of success.

I remember reading an article written last year by Edward De Bono, a thought leader on the topic of creativity and the creator of lateral thinking. In this article, Mr. De Bono stated that “it is possible to show mathematically that creativity is essential in any self-organising system; otherwise we get locked into stable states that are far from optimal.” So Mr. De Bono might argue that risk aversion leads to creative stagnation, therefore resulting in mediocrity.

What is the appetite in Calgary to take risks? We are known as a capital of entrepreneurialism and as the home of business mavericks. We are admired for our ingenuity. Does this mean it is safe to fail here? Can our citizens, our businesses, our artists be wrong, make mistakes, and still be successful? To create the conditions for creativity and ultimately success in Calgary, I suggest that we need to do what we can to continue to make this a place where it is safe to be creative, and where it is safe to ‘fail’. In this environment, Calgarians embrace a variety of perspectives, encourage questions, have clarity about the risks involved, and choose to proceed because of the conviction that what they are doing is worth it.