The Key-Person Risk in My Own Life
I spend a fair amount of time looking for key-person risk in projects.
It took me an embarrassingly long time to spot the key-person risk in my own life.
Me.
For much of my career, I have worked as a contractor. I enjoy the independence, the variety and the satisfaction of being brought in to help deliver difficult work.
I also earn well. But I recently realised that income and financial security are not the same thing.
My income currently depends heavily on one contract. If I stop delivering, I stop invoicing. There is no employer quietly building a substantial pension behind the scenes.
That is not a complaint about contracting, nor an announcement that I plan to retire next Thursday. It is simply a risk that deserves to be acknowledged.
A healthy rate and a full diary can create a sense of security. But every invoice still depends on another period of delivery. It is valuable work, but it remains repeated labour.
I have started thinking more seriously about cumulative work: work done today that can continue creating value tomorrow.
Some of that may come from maintaining professional credentials, recording hard-won knowledge, writing, speaking, mentoring and building relationships beyond the current client. Some may come from developing income-producing assets that are leveraged and recurring rather than entirely dependent on the next billable hour.
I am not looking for the mythical passive-income machine. Anything worthwhile requires work somewhere.
I am looking for a better balance between repeated labour and cumulative work, while my primary career is still going well and I have the time to build thoughtfully.
As project professionals, we apply contingency thinking to complex organisations every day. It seems sensible to apply some of that discipline to our own working lives.
I am increasingly convinced that retirement is not a cliff edge.
It is a programme.
And like any important programme, it deserves an early risk review, clear milestones and a few well-chosen options before they become urgent.
For the contractors and experienced professionals in my network: what are you building now that could still serve you after the current contract ends?
