Do you play it safe?

So I was doing some research for SuperBowl commercials and came across this one from Nike ... the whole series is frankly hilarious. My personal favorite is here. This one is pretty good too.

While the focus was obviously about playing, it did lead me intellectually down the path of referees, and who would be more successful ... a perfect, by the book referee, or one who is willing to "flex" the Laws, have some fun, and take some risks.

If the former, how do you manage the very difficult situation?

If the latter, how far do you let things go, and what if you can't get it back?

A more perplexing question is how do we teach our younger referees in this regard? Punish the creative for not always being correct, or praise the consistent and see if they can adapt.

I have my answer ... what is yours?