Why Uncertainty is your Enemy (and what you can do about it)

No one likes to admit it, but we all feel the anxiety of uncertainty from time to time, especially when we're having to make choices in uncertain demanding conditions.

You may have read those words from me before, and you probably will again, and there’s a very good reason why.

Uncertainty is THE enemy.

Uncertainty means there is something unknown, and according to Professor Nicholas Carleton (2016) of the University of Regina, “fear of the unknown may be a, or possibly the, fundamental fear”.

No wonder then that it can impact us in such a variety of ways.

And these impacts aren’t limited to the purely psychological. There is a revolving door between the uncertainty in the world and the uncertainty in our minds.

Uncertainty in our minds can cause changes in the way we think, can lower the quality of our thinking, particularly if we are not comfortable with the uncertainty. This manifests itself in our making poor, or at least sub-optimal choices, in the world, in our businesses.

Less than adequate thinking on our part, whether through uncertainty, or through out of awareness habitual thinking preferences (Cognitive Intentions), can create uncertainty in the world, in our businesses, and by extension in the minds of our customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders.

Both types are insidious and destructive. We are rarely aware of the impact of uncertainty on our thinking, nor of the impact of uncertainty we create through our poor thinking.

If you’ve managed to read this far you may be wondering why, when my aim is to help you become more inspirational, I’ve chosen to start so sombrely?

I’ve done this because it is vital to know your enemy.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. There is a defence.

Self-Awareness.

Or, more accurately, our level of self-awareness in the moment, i.e., Dynamic Intelligence (Stevens, 2020)

According to Dr Stevens:

“Dynamic Intelligence is the process by which we construct our thinking in the moment in order to determine the path from (unconscious) Intention to Awareness, then Choice and finally Response. The greater our Awareness of our Intention, the more choices we create in our Responses in the moment, thus, the greater our Dynamic Intelligence.”

So how does help us?

When we develop our Dynamic Intelligence (improve our level of self-awareness) we do two things:

1) We enhance our ability to perceive systemic patterns, in ourselves and in the world around us. This reduces the uncertainty in our mind and its negative impact on the quality of our thinking.

2) We improve our understanding of the constructed nature of our reality, including our emotions. This enables us to have more control over our emotional responses, and in so doing, we become more comfortable with uncertainty, further reducing its negative impact on the quality of our thinking.

As the quality of our thinking improves, both through increased Dynamic Intelligence and a reduction of the impact of uncertainty in our mind, we create less uncertainty in the world around us. Our improved awareness of our intentions allows us to communicate those intentions more effectively through the choices we make. Thus we make qualitatively better choices.

This might seem a bit theoretical, so let me illustrate it in more concrete terms and offer an example of real-world outcomes.

As a result of the pandemic, many workers were forced to work from home. Some did not find this to their liking and couldn’t wait to get back to their place of work. But many did like it, and the advantages it conferred.

Once workers could return to their place of work, this duality within the workforce created uncertainty in the minds of many business leaders: what is now ‘normal’, what would be the impact of continued hybrid working on their businesses, how should they respond?

Those business leaders have largely made one of two choices:

1) Fall back on pre-pandemic cultural norms and demand their employees return to their place of work thereby avoiding the uncertainty that continued home and hybrid working creates

2) Recognise the pattern of change in cultural norms, embrace hybrid working and the uncertainty this creates, and adopt an approach of “Building the Bridge As You Walk On It”, i.e., working to make it work

The result: those business leaders (in organisations with a genuine option) who have chosen (1) are already seeing their talent move to their more Dynamically Intelligent competitors.

Pre-dating this article by over 2000 years, in The Art of War, Sun Tzu writes:

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

So let this be your call to arms: know the enemy and know yourself - understand uncertainty and develop your Dynamic Intelligence. In so doing you need not fear the result of your many campaigns.

In support of this, I've created a group: The UK Business Leader Growth Group: Business Growth and Leadership Development for SMEs.

It's a Community of Practice for founders and leaders of UK small and medium-sized enterprises who want to make the best choices for the sustainable growth of their businesses more of the time.

The most inspirational leaders are are those that project confidence, resilience, and adaptability. They are at ease with uncertainty and change. In short, their competitive edge comes from within, and this competitive edge flows from them throughout their businesses, through the choices they make inspire.

This purpose of this group is to help each and every one of its members to become that inspirational leader, and develop more sustainable businesses as a result.

Join us in our campaign against uncertainty.

About the author: Hi, my name is Sean Ellis. As a Business Developmentalist (developmental business coach), I help business leaders to overcome uncertainty and make confident choices by developing the quality of their thinking. I use Coaching 2.0 techniques developed by my close friend and associate, adult development psychologist Dr Darren Stevens combined with my business experience forged through decades of business change and transformation experience. If you would like to discuss anything in this article in more detail, then please book some time with me.