So, what is high risk high reward? First, it relates more to entrepreneurship than jobs. There are many jobs and career paths that are very risky (police officers, soldiers, firefighters and more come to mind) where you simply cannot compensate the individual enough for the amount of life threatening risk they may and do take. So, it is a high risk and capped reward proposition. High risk with almost completely uncapped high reward is only possible with a side gig that grows into a full-time business, or simply a full-time business. You start something, invest time and money, and if all goes well you will get back revenue, then profit, then growth of both as well as your profit margins. Amazing, is it not?
The problem, dearest readers, is that no one says the quiet part out loud. High risk, high reward, HIGH CHANCE OF FAILURE. That last part is always missing from the conversation. No one says that, if you attempt a high risk high reward venture, no matter what you think or how you feel about it you are very likely to fail completely. You have tremendous odds against you and a ton of planning, calculating and learning can increase your odds of success but it does not guarantee even a single pay day, ever. Oh, and with every major success, every milestone, comes a new set of challenges and no matter what you choose you have competition because you do not operate in a bubble. Finally, people who undertake high risk high reward ventures often get fanatical about it and emotional as well, so they fight and argue with everyone who wants to discourage them and talk them out of it instead of open communication and learning how to handle objections and explain what they are trying to accomplish and how. Hard working, motivated and inspired individuals, in pursuit of this extremely difficult goal, get taken out of mainstream society and cause some really bad ripples to go through it.
When times are good, fewer people consider high risk high reward propositions and this is something that the society and economy can handle. However, in bad times, too many people put everything on the line, risk high chance of failure because they feel threatened, their very survival comes in question, and they sometimes rightfully believe there is no other choice for them. People and companies who market products and services built around supporting high risk high reward pursuits are the only ones that profit; everyone else loses either a little or a lot except for a lucky few, and sometimes it is down to luck as much as it is to skill.
So, what are we to do with this? Well, we live in free countries so people will do what they think is best for them. The best thing for us, collectively, is that any time we may decide to go for a high risk high reward venture, or someone close to us does, to keep open and honest communication, say the quiet parts out loud, and realize that there is no such thing as too much planning. Do that, and you increase your odds or someone else's, and all of us benefit. :)