by Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.
I am stuck in an airport with a seven hour delay as my original connecting flight home was cancelled. The exciting life of the business traveller!
To help pass the time I started to read the book “No Regrets”, by Ace Frehley, the original guitarist from the 70’s rock group KISS. It is probably not going to be the best biography of the year, but I have to admit it does help to pass the time. It also is not going to be the business book of the year, but strangely enough (and perhaps because I am late getting my blogs together for the week) I started to see a lot of business lessons coming out of the book. (Long layovers and business travel can do strange things to you – and yes I am staying away from the open bar in the airline lounge!)
One of the interesting points that Paul (Ace) Frehley brings out in his biography is the distinction between session players (musicians who earn their living by being musicians solely for the purpose of recording) and live performers. Clearly session musicians are the better musicians, but they are rarely household names. Session musicians don’t make mistakes. They are hired because they are precise, professional and can play the same piece of music exactly the same way as often as is required for a suitable track to be made. Session performers can also read music proficiently.
Live performers by contrast are generally not as good musically. Many of them (including Ace) cannot read music. Getting a reliable sound that is mistake free from a live performer is an almost impossible task. Yet live performers (such as Ace) who become successful are extremely well known and phenomenally successful economically.
In risk management are you a session performer or a live performer? Does your risk management team perform live or only in session? Which type of risk performer do you want to be?
No comments:
Post a Comment