---
title: "Taking Initiative: Risks & Opportunities"
artifact: "highlights"
resource_person: "Dr. Aparna Rajagopal, with Dr. Aruna Bhargava"
resource_person_role: "Dr. Aparna Rajagopal is Director, Course Development at CMI; Dr. Aruna Bhargava is an Advisor to CMI and a former psychologist and sociology professor."
vertical: "careers"
module: "Career Progression"
lesson: "Taking Initiative: Risks & Opportunities"
lesson_key: "taking-initiative-risks-and-opportunities"
source: "GuruSetu original"
source_channel: "GuruSetu"
---
# Taking Initiative: Risks & Opportunities: Highlights

**Resource person:** Dr. Aparna Rajagopal, with Dr. Aruna Bhargava - Dr. Aparna Rajagopal is Director, Course Development at CMI; Dr. Aruna Bhargava is an Advisor to CMI and a former psychologist and sociology professor.

1. Initiative means responding to a need before somebody assigns the action.
2. Initiative begins with a need that falls beyond existing expectations.
3. A small first step can serve a new benefit or a need awaiting a response.
4. Ask what constraints may have held the idea back.
5. Judge the action by its contribution to the organisation’s purpose.
6. A useful partial result can justify a small trial before a wider change.
7. Pilot the idea, observe what changes and revise it from evidence.