Uncertainty is not the enemy
Leading innovation agencies offer processes for systematically reducing uncertainty and risk, as a key to take companies to their next level. They blast social media with graphs and models to support these concepts. But that’s missing the point, because it doesn’t matter how hard we try to avoid it, uncertainty will always come our way.
Market trends, unexpected circumstances and the volatile tech landscape will always catch us unprepared. Trying to get rid of uncertainty, is like running a marathon without getting tired. It’s impossible of course. The truth is uncertainty will always be there, no matter how experienced we are or which methods we use.
So I believe we need to take it one step further, by learning to dance with uncertainty, instead of trying to avoid it. The real question is — how can we embrace uncertainty and use it as a tool to reach higher levels of creativity, especially when we are inherently wired to avoid it?
If we only learn to harness uncertainty to our advantage, we can accelerate our creative and inventive abilities to levels we never thought possible. How? By getting to know it, expecting it, and changing the way we think about it.
We don’t need to seek to be confident all the time. Rather, we’re better off acknowledging the self-doubt, fear, and anxiety, that stem from uncertainty — then push past them as we continue to do meaningful work and take decisions.
When we hear the voice of angst shouting, it’s a sure sign that we’re leaving our comfort zone—the realm of certainty—and moving toward our more creative mental states. In essence, our fear is a positive indicator, one that we must learn to embrace, not shirk away from.
Using uncertainty as a tool is an acquired skill, and not at all dependent on talent or “special” abilities. It’s a skill that, through a methodical approach, can be practiced and improved upon. In my new book titled The Other Ideas: Art, Digital Products and the Creative Brain, I discuss this practice in depth.
By trying to avoid risk, we expose ourselves to a much greater risk of getting stuck, and gradually becoming less relevant and getting pushed out of the game. The enemy is not uncertainty - the real enemy is stagnation.
Yonatan Levy is a product leader, entrepreneur, artist. Author of The Other Ideas, Art, Digital Products, and the Creative Mind and blogs about innovation, digital transformation, and product management.
Uncertainty is not the enemy was originally published in The Other Ideas on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
