As the economist Thomas Sowell points out, there are no solutions, only trade-offs. Every decision we make, every day, involves trade-offs.

Another way to look at this is, given a choice of one path vs. the other, will the benefits of that choice outweigh the risks? Is there more upside than downside?

I was reminded of this recently when a client was trying to make a decision about whether or not to manage the financial detail of all transactions in both the AMS and FMS, or the AMS only. Traditionally, the AMS manages the detail while the FMS manages summary data, but some organizations will manage financial detail in both systems. There are, of course, pros and cons to both approaches. But after a lengthy discussion, the client decided that the risks of putting all the detail in both the AMS and the FMS were greater than the benefit of having that detail in the FMS would bring. In other words, the risks did NOT outweigh the benefits.

So as you're weighing a decision, always consider the trade-offs. And if you need to, ask yourself, do the benefits of this decision outweigh the risks?