Navigating Murky Landscapes

Uncertainty shows up for all of us, in moments throughout our work and life, it’s impossible to escape and it can have a devastating impact if we don’t know how to handle it. For most of us, it has a habit of negatively impacting our progress, limiting our choices and holding us back. It can make us feel out of our depth as it slows down or completely stops our decision making ability.? It turns a clear path forward into a murky landscape, it zaps our confidence, motivation, energy and paralyses us from taking action as we procrastinate on our options. When we find ourselves in uncertain times we all have our own signature of behaviour in how we react and respond, and usually our approach is unconscious to us - a deep pattern we’ve learnt over our lifetimes.?

We're interested in three ways uncertainty shows up in our lives: :

1. In transitions?we make around work or life, such as job promotion or a new project where we tend to experience a range of emotions; we’re excited about new opportunities and we experience fear of the unknown as new ways of working, tasks, people and places create a huge amount of uncertainty.?
2. When life throws a curve ball that we weren’t expecting, can’t control and probably wouldn’t choose, such as illness, a sudden change in circumstances or caring responsibilities.
3. When working to create change in the world, where our purpose is to forge the ‘new’, to build new ways of living and working, where we are laying the tracks as the train is approaching.? ?

How uncertainty manifests in us

The only certainty about uncertainty is that it is certain! If not kept in check, uncertainty can get us caught in a spiral of worrying and procrastination about the future and keep us focusing on the bad things we anticipate happening. If this becomes a cycle of anxiety, it can affect our mental wellbeing. Typical ways of reacting to uncertain times is to avoid or numb the things we find challenging as we play it safe - which massively limits the opportunities available to us.?

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Transitioning to new ventures

Work transitions are one of the most common places that uncertainty shows up. Honeymoon feelings of elation and excitement of getting a new job, achieving a promotion or working on a new passion project can quickly be replaced with uncertainty and imposter syndrome. Going through a work transition can bring a huge amount of uncertainty as we feel ill-equipped to step into the unknown. Maybe we’re not clear on our new expectations, boundaries, accepted ways of doing things, who our supporters are, and how to navigate a world that looks and feels very different. We feel excited and energised about new possibilities and at the same time it all feels a bit scary. How much are we able to be honest about our feelings and thoughts with ourselves and our new work colleagues whilst we are working to create an air of confidence in our ability and that we know what we’re doing? Finding a path through the newness whilst being able to work with how we’re feeling is key. Recognising and acknowledging how uncertainty is impacting us and consciously working through the thoughts, emotions, and behaviours it brings up in us overcomes?the fear it can create. This is all part of building our own toolbox of techniques, resources and practices that enable us to work with uncertainty and transition.?

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Life’s curve balls

Some shifts in our personal lives are planned, many come as a bolt out of the blue - but all require us to find ways to work with uncertainty?and recalibrate to a new balance across our lives. Life shifts that we don’t choose such as illnesses, caring responsibilities, life changing moments and global pandemics can all knock us off the course we have been on and require us to develop new habits, approaches and routines to find our new normal. Our loss of choice and control in adjusting to life’s curve balls creates greater uncertainty and our feelings of fear and worry can be amplified. The whole world experienced this in covid; remember when we couldn’t even be certain that our lives were safe shopping for essential groceries? And the level of anxiety feeding new habits, like how we’d wipe down shopping bags and food items before putting them away?

When a major life change happens, our brains automatically see it as negative - it’s called our negativity bias and is our body’s default, programmed way of trying to keep us safe by watching for dangers that could harm us. When this kicks in it can influence our decision making processes and increase feelings of anxiety and depression if we remain in the cycle it creates for too long or too frequently.?

Building your capacity to cope with lack of control and not to see it as immediately negative is a lifelong challenge, but it’s such an important part of dealing with change. How do we get to a place of not only accepting what we cannot change, but thriving in our new circumstances? I've had my fair share of curve balls in my life, and some of the practices in our evolving toolbox are...

1. Grounding in something familiar. Even something small that can anchor us and tap into some sort of stability in us. Try pausing, notice your feet on the ground and breathe up from the ground and back down again for 10 seconds to ground you.
2. Repeating daily habits. Rewatching a TV series you love (our?go-to is any?of?David Attenborough's awe inspiring series) or eating your favourite comfort food can unlock feelings of safety during a transition. Aim for not everything to be ‘new’.?
3. Finding perspective. Looking ‘up and out’ and seeing the wider context of the world can put your outlook into perspective. The concept of common humanity, i.e. what is affecting me is affecting many others in the world, can reduce the negativity we may feel.?
4. Building flexibility. Letting go of expectations and judgements about your new situations and instead approach it with an air of curiosity. Yes, this takes practice! A daily mindfulness or?yoga practice helps me build this muscle.
5. Finding your community. When dealing with a new transition it’s so important to be supported by people you can talk to and process with. This is why I’m hosting the Uncertain Times Huddle - a community of up to 12 people journeying together to discover and share ways of dealing and working with uncertainty.? ?

Work creating change in the world

Those of us who are changemakers trying to bring about change in our organisations, communities and wider world frequently find ourselves dealing with the unknown as we forge a new future together and find new ways of working and living - and we’re often trying to encourage and influence others to do the same. These can be challenging tasks full of uncertainty - for example finding the best way to approach a challenge or opportunity, who to involve and influence, and how to secure and sustain funding for a project or organisation. It can sometimes feel like a lonely and tiring road, perhaps going against the grain of established wisdom or expected ways of doing things. How do we work with uncertainty in community, and together maintain our resilience, pace, and motivation for the change we are trying to bring about?

Some of the ways I have discovered is to focus on:

1. Questions rather than outcomes. When future goals are unclear or impossible to predict and measure, switch to focusing on curious questions and let them guide you along the way to greater clarity.??
2. Problem sharing. We can feel alone and shut down when we hit challenges. Remembering we are not alone and talking these through is key.?
3. Listening skills. Try listening to colleagues without thinking about how you are going to respond, just listen. When we deeply listen and are present for each other we better understand and feel understood.
4. Working with tensions. Talk through and listen to different and other views without judging them or the person sharing them, and from that place find the common ground that unites you.?
5. Looking after our wellbeing. In whatever way that works for?you, such as a sport, nature, meditation, healthy eating, laughing. When we look after ourselves we have a greater capacity to approach challenges and others in a positive light.
6. Practical support.?Get practical advice and support from inside and outside of the group. Develop new perspectives and tools to share with your community by joining The Uncertain Times Huddle ?hosted by Sarah King ?

The plethora of situations that can lead to difficult levels of uncertainty all require nuanced approaches to overcome them - and require us to learn new tools, techniques and coping mechanisms so we can thrive in the face of uncertainty with greater positivity. One of the best ways I’ve come across to adapt to the multi-faceted and complex needs that these situations throw at us - is to work through them in a supportive, growth-oriented community. This is one of the premises of Huddlecraft - that we can become so much more creative, adaptive and response-able when we’re pooling resources, support and potential in a high-trust peer group. Join Sarah in Uncertain Times if this sounds like what you need right now or come along to a free RSA event 'Thriving in the face of uncertainty ' in Bristol on 4th September.