Building culture for an uncertain world

I do a lot of work supporting teams going through change. There's a lot of it about. ?

However, it sometimes gets confused or lumped together with the other constant in the world of work in recent years: uncertainty.

It’s important to recognise that the two are different. Change is always to some extent defined. We know where we are leaving and usually, roughly, where we are going.

In contrast, uncertainty can feel like a whirling cloud of fog that sits constantly around us, making it difficult to see the path ahead.

Uncertainty is characterised by a lot of unknowns, a lot of complexity - and often a lot of unplanned change.

Uncertainty has been unavoidable in recent years. Financial chaos and political change mean that we can’t be sure what the external environment will look like from one month to the next. Internally, a lot of organisations are still adjusting their strategies for a post-Covid world, while getting to grips with hybrid/remote working.

It doesn’t look like this is going to change any time soon. So building a culture and a workforce that can cope well with uncertainty is essential for success in the modern world.

Here's how you focus on your culture to help you do that.

Have a clear vision, but be flexible about how you get there

When things are uncertain, go back to your “why”. What is it you want to achieve?

Keep that as your destination but accept that you might need to walk a different path to get there. I often quote the phrase “write your goal in pen but your plan in pencil.”

Speak to your team about how your purpose hasn’t changed, that you are all still working towards the same thing, you just might need to adapt how you get there. This can help them see that the important things remain the same. A strong shared purpose is absolutely essential for a strong working culture.

Make it ok to admit you don’t know

Uncertain times are not a time for bluffing. There will be plenty we don’t know about what comes next, what will work or what it all means. Being honest about the fact we don’t know puts us in a much stronger position to focus on what we do know and to make the best use of that.

Successfully negotiating uncertainty means gather as much real, hard data as we can (for example, understanding what matters to our customers). Where there are gaps, we need to be honest about that without worrying about how it will reflect on our perceived credibility.

Empower your teams to make decisions quickly…

Uncertainty is also not a time for heavy, top-down decision making or micromanaging.

The nature of uncertainty means that decisions need to be taken quickly to make the most of opportunity or to minimise risk. Long internal negotiation or intricate sign off procedures quickly put paid to that.

Think about which teams or individuals will need to make decisions in a timely way, and make sure they are empowered to do so.

… And enable them to make good decisions

Making good decisions isn’t easy. ?As part of empowering people to do that you also need to make sure they have access to all the information they need – about the outside world but also about your internal values and priorities.

Don’t overlook organisational awareness as a core leadership skill.

In addition, make sure that decision makers are not operating in an echo chamber. Teams that are able to take on different viewpoints and have robust conversations will make better decisions. This means we need to build diverse teams in terms of experience and outlook as well as in terms of gender, age, disabilities and ethnicity.

Building psychological safety is essential to making sure discussions are positive and productive, and everyone feels able to contribute.

Build a supportive culture

Uncertainty is tough. It’s hard work. People get tired. Some people will struggle more than others. A culture that manages uncertainty well has to be able to manage this too.

As with so much in good leadership, the key here is empathy. Empathy doesn’t mean you need to share someone else’s viewpoint or feelings, but you need to make the effort to understand and acknowledge them.

Overworked and burnt out staff do not make good decisions or manage uncertainty well. So it makes good business sense to keep an eye on workloads and stress levels, making sure that there is support available and people are encouraged to look after themselves.

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What do you think? Is there anything I’ve missed? What helps you cope with uncertainty?