The Art Of Turning Uncertainty Into Opportunity

"This book re-frames the concept Not Knowing, from being in a fearful place of weakness and ignorance, moving to something we must engage with personally." - from jacket flap inside. Compelling enough to make me buy the book.

The book had three parts to it.

Part I - The Dangers Of Knowledge

Part II - The Edge

Part III - Negative Capabilities

In all there are nine chapters.

Chapter 1 - The Dangers of Knowledge

Sub Chapter-Topics : Knowledge is powerful, The allure of the known, Overconfidence blinkers, The limits of specialisation, Wilful blindness, The pretence of Knowledge

Chapter 2 - Dependency On Experts And Leaders

Sub Chapter-Topics: The leader who knew too much, The problem with "Certain" leaders, The weight of expectations, Pretending to Know, Blind Obedience to Authority

Chapter 3 - Growth Of The Unknown

Sub Chapter Topics: Knowledge keeps changing, More complex, More Ambiguous, Complicated-Complex-Chaotic, Mishandling Complexity

Chapter 4 - Finistree

Sub Chapter Topics: Arriving At Finisterre, Avoiding The UnKnown, Fear of Competence, Reactions At The Edge, The Call To Cross The Edge

Chapter 5 - Darkness Illuminates

Sub Chapter Topics: A Reframing of Not Knowing, What can we learn from the Inhabitants of the unknown? The Artist - The space between Angels And Demons, The Explorer - One Mountain At A Time, The Psychotherapist - The Way of Unknowing, The Scientist - The Freedom to Deviate, The Entrepreneur - Discovering What is Next

Chapter 6 - Empty Your Cup

Sub Chapter Topics - Beginner's Mind, From Control To Trust, Hold On To Purpose And Values, Let Go, Say "I Don't Know", Entertain Doubt, Work With Resistance, Embodied Not Knowing, Prepare The Ground

Chapter 7 - Close Your Eyes To See

Sub Chapter Topics: Close Your Eyes To See, Observe, Create Space For Silence, Listen, Challenge Assumptions, Challenge Authority And Experience, Question

Chapter 8 - Leap in The Dark

Sub Chapter Topics: Improvise, Generate Multiple Hypotheses, Bring Diverse Voices Together, Take Meaningful Risk, Explore, Experiment, Embrace Mistakes, Fail Faster, Why Not? Take responsibility

Chapter 9 - Delight In The Unknown

Sub Chapter Topics: Foolishness And Play, Humour, Curiosity and Creativity, Boldness and Vulnerability, Compassion and Empathy, Solidarity, Fluidity, Anti-fragility

Final Words

Appendix

The Path Made By Walking

1. Live The Questions
2. Experiment

A few quotable quotes from the book

"When you want to know something, not knowing is tough."

"Traveller, there is no path, the path is made by walking." - Spanish Writer Antonio Machado quoted in the book.

"We tend to take our knowledge as a personal property to be protected and defended. It is an ornament that allows us to rise in the pecking order. We take what we know quite seriously."

"Overconfident professionals believe they have expertise, act as experts, and look like experts. You will have to struggle to remind yourself that they may be in the grip of illusion." - Psychologist Daniel Kahneman

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" - Albert Einstein

"It is not a good idea to take a forecast from someone wearing a tie." Nassim Nicholas Taleb

"Beware the shadow our knowledge casts"

"Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions just because they have been handed down for many generations." - Buddha

"Knowledge is like a sphere. The greater its volume - the larger its contact with the unknown"

"For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong." American Journalist HL Mencken

"We deserve our birthright, which is the middle way, an open state of mind that can relax with the paradox and ambiguity." - Pema Chodoron