You Are What You Risk: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World

Pegasus Books, April 2021 (US); international English edition via Simon & Schuster International, June 2021
China simplified characters edition via CITIC, September 2021
Taiwan edition via Commonwealth, January 2022
Romanian edition via Editura Creatur, April 2022
Korean edition via Miraebooks, July 2022


A Porchlight Books Editor’s Choice
An AudioFile Magazine Top Book of 2021
An AudioFile Earphones Award honoree (audiobook edition)
A Next Big Idea Club Spring 2021 NomineeLos Angeles Review of Books: Risk Management and its Discontents
YOU ARE WHAT YOU RISK: A Review by Anne Janzer
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The Rewired Soul: “I can go on and on about how amazing this book was”

What drives a sixty-four-year-old woman to hurl herself over Niagara Falls in a barrel? Why are cor­porate boards paying more attention to risky personal behavior by CEOs? Why are some countries quicker than others to recognize—and manage—risks like pandemics, technological change, and the climate crisis?

The answers to these questions define each person, organization, and society as distinctively as a finger­print. Understanding the often-surprising origins of these risk fingerprints can open your eyes, inspire new habits, catalyze innovation and creativity, improve teamwork, and provide a beacon in a world that suddenly seems more uncertain than ever.

How you see risk and what you do about it depend on your personality and experiences; culture and values; the people around you; and even unexpected things like what you’ve eaten recently, the temperature in the room, or the fragrance in the air. Being alert to these often-unconscious influences will help you to seize opportunity and avoid danger.

You Are What You Risk is a clarion call for a new conversation about our relationship with risk and uncertainty. In this ground-breaking and accessible book, Michele Wucker examines why it’s so important to understand your risk fingerprint, and how to make your risk relationships work better in business, life, and the world.

Drawing on compelling stories from risk takers around the world and weaving in economics and social psychology, Wucker bridges the divide between professional and lay risk conversations. She challenges stereotypes about risk attitudes, shows how the new science of “risk personality” is re-shaping business and finance, and reveals how embracing risk empathy can resolve conflicts. Wucker shares insights, practical tools, and proven strategies that will help you to make better choices, both big and small.

Download the Readers Guide HERE.

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