Living with uncertainty

One of the critical skills needed in today’s world is the ability to live with uncertainty.

Our brains seek certainty.  We want to understand what is happening around us, and to predict what will happen in the future.  At some basic level we feel that certainty equals safety and is a route to success.

The reality is we live in an uncertain and complex world.  Business, technology and social changes are happening faster than ever before.  Today’s leaders need to be comfortable with uncertainty and open to complexity. 

The desire to dumb things down with simple slogans may be tempting but it doesn’t equip us for effective operation in a diverse and complex world.  

So what can we do when we are overwhelmed by the uncertainty? When the world around us thinks differently, with different rules and values than the one we grew up in.  When the projects we are working on stall due to global pressures or the complexities of red tape in a different region.  When the move we are being prepared for is halted due to contractual issues or visa changes.

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Dancing with uncertainty – a critical skill in cross cultural relocation

Jonathan Fields, is releasing a book tomorrow.  

Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance.  He has challenged people to share their stories of the times they have “danced with uncertainty …and won…where you felt the butterflies, the anxiety and fear, where you thought about turning back, maybe you even did, but then turned back around and ended up creating, or becoming or doing something amazing.”

 My first thought wasn’t of my own dances but of the people I work with who are often stepping out into new lives in very different locations, lives they may not have personally considered but may be going to because of a job or a partner or a parent.  They are often feeling butterflies, anxiety and sometimes fear.  And then I remembered it was my own dance to China with a young family in the early 90s that got me into this work. 

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