Secure and respected and engaged and risky

Some people want their workplace to be like an artist's studio. A lab. A dance with the possible. Engaging. Thrilling. The chance to take flight, to be engaged, to risk defeat and to find a new solution to an important problem. 

And some people want a job that's secure, where they are respected by those around them.

The essential lesson: These are not necessarily different people, but they are very different attitudes. 

It's a choice, a choice made once a lifetime, or every year, or perhaps day by day...

When you sit with an employee who seeks security and talk to them about "failing fast," and "understanding the guardrails," and "speaking up," it's not likely to resonate. 

It's worth finding the right state of mind for the job that needs to be done.