Can we take risks?

As managers we always encourage our ordinates to think beyond the box, unleash the potentials of being innovative and be brave to take risks. But do we really mean what we say? May be, partially. Risks are taken because expected returns are usually over the value of what is done along the lines of the norms, if done successfully. What are these returns? A utopian answer is the greater public value created in what we deliver.

I bring this up as I went through our eGovernment portal, I failed to identify where 'the public' or the people fall in in the overall strucure of the design. As they are the eCustomers, measuring what can be achieved against the customers' expectation would be a good start before we decide to say we are setting ourselves the right target. Without it, being 'over ambitious' statement will crop up again. 

Lets eliminate guestimates, lets identify what the customers' needs are, lets prioritise then lets draw some form of targets. And along the way allow innovations to flourish, the buzz phrase that we keep uttering as managers.