How to Fuck Around and (Actually) Find Out.

A practical guide to risk, return, and the art of strategic recklessness.

It’s always been my belief that anything in life can be explained with a 2x2 matrix.

We use it endlessly at work - brand positioning, category whitespace, strategy decks that claim to bring “clarity.” But at its core, it’s just a tool to see things as they are - to name the tensions, trade-offs, and truths we usually ignore.

So today I give you: The FAFO Matrix of Risk vs. Return.

Everyone knows the adage: “The more you fuck around, the more you find out.”
But here’s the thing - not all finding out is created equal.

Maya Angelou once said, “Life loves the liver of it. You must live and life will be good to you.” It’s a beautiful truth: when you dare to live fully; to experiment and take risks, you expand your luck surface area. Every time you fuck around with intent, you create new paths for opportunity, insight, and serendipity to find you.

But the trick, as always, is knowing which kind of fucking around actually compounds.

So here’s The FAFO Matrix: mapping Risk (Fuck Around) against Return (Find Out).

1. Low Risk, Low Return: The Comfort Trap
Risk avoidance is a risk. You’re trading uncertainty for slow decay.

Seen in people who stay in roles they’ve clearly outgrown because it’s “stable.” You’re not failing, but you’re not growing either; you’re just slowly dissolving into mediocrity.

2. Low Risk, Mid Return: Calculated Bets
You’re maximizing your luck surface area and return per unit of risk.

This is where you send that cold email, launch a side project, or test an idea in public.
Small bets, fast feedback, minimal downside; this is sustainable FAFO.
Think “two-way door” decisions: easy to reverse, rich in learning.

3. Low Risk, High Return: The Lucky Strike
When luck looks like genius. You tripped and fell into a promotion.

A random coffee meeting becomes your co-founder. A friend drags you to a party where you meet your future spouse. You win the $12 million Lottery because someone at work was buying and you said “Sure, why not.” You can’t plan this, but you can show up more often.

4. Mid Risk, High Return: The Goldilocks Zone
The sweet spot where fortune favours the bold (and those who’ve done the math).

You’re taking smart, reversible risks with clear asymmetry: more upside than downside. Starting a business on the side. Investing in learning new skills.
Saying yes to a stretch role. The art is in balancing courage with calculation.

5. Mid Risk, Low Return: The Chaos Zone
You’re mistaking motion for progress, sprinting on a treadmill that goes nowhere.

You’re busy, not effective. You’re saying yes to every opportunity, but none move the needle. Classic burnout fuel.

6. High Risk, High Return: The YOLO Plateau
Strategic recklessness to reach peak FAFO. Go big, but also know when to go home.

Move countries, switch industries, bet big on your conviction. You might lose everything, or realise nothing was “everything” to begin with.

7. High Risk, Mid Return: The Misplaced Bet
You’re climbing the wrong mountain beautifully. The view’s great, but the ROI isn’t.

The sunk cost fallacy in action: staying in a toxic job for the title. Pouring everything into a dying project because “you’ve come too far.”

8. High Risk, Low Return: Regret Territory
When you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.

The “trust me bro” strategy. Buying NFTs at the top. Taking risky rooftop selfies for content.

Because ultimately, the only thing riskier than fucking around…is never finding out. Life rewards the curious, the bold, and the ones willing to test their own hypotheses.

Life is, after all, a series of experiments.

So go on, expand your luck surface area.

Fuck around (strategically).
And find out (intelligently).