I was at a conference focused on contracting and a law school professor asserted, “You have three ways to deal with risk. Transfer it. Accept it. Or Insure for it.”

There is nothing much new with those options, shifting risk is a popular pastime. But I propose there is a fourth way that is even better, which is to be transparent, openly discuss risk, and share the risk with the intent to manage and mitigate it.

Why share risk? Simply put it is straight out of the Vested playbook because it puts you and your partner (supplier, customer, business partner) in the same boat.

Shifting or transferring risk may seem like a smart thing, but it is akin to putting your head in the sand because the risk does not go away. And if a supplier accepts the risk, they are almost certainly going to add a risk premium to their price.