"What is uncertainty?"
"I don’t know. But whatever it is, I hate it."
Good catch-up with Ruth, as always, this morning. Ruth is mentoring Alexa, our UX Designer & Researcher.
It was not more than a minute into our catch-up that we were regarding uncertainty’s ugly visage. In fact, many conversations I’ve had this week have featured uncertainty, or the effects of it.
When a piece of work is delivered and the client goes quiet, you're uncertain what they're thinking or going to say. You fill those silent gaps with thoughts born out of anxiety, "They hate it", "I've let them/us/me down", "They're not going to pay me", "I'm going to have to do it all again". We fill in the gaps.
When a proposal is submitted and things go quiet, we fill in the gaps. It’s always with some nasty shiz, too. "They’re ghosting us", "They were fishing".
We never think they were so bowled over that they can’t quite find the words to respond. Or, more likely, this project is no-one’s day job. They’re a small team like us and have many plates spinning. They’ll get back to us one way or the other, whatever they decide, in their own good time.
All of this puts me in mind of Sam Conniff's session at the BIMA Beyond conference, earlier this week. I felt seen. And I felt others were seen, too.
Sam ran a really interesting session, which chimed with me and has stayed with me. Or maybe it's just been reinforced by these conversations I've been having. Regardless, he's on to something with Uncertainty Experts.
Now, to simply nick what BIMA wrote about Sam…
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Sam is most recently the Creator of Uncertainty Experts, a unique hybrid of online learning, interactive documentary and psychological intervention. He is the author of the international best-seller and "modern life-bible" Be More Pirate.
Finding opportunity in uncertainty
Never in history has a time been more uncertain than now. You’re exhausted. Burned out. Barely holding it together. Uncertainty causes indecision, anxiety and self-doubt, while we lose confidence, connection, and productivity.
However great opportunities exist if we simply change our approach to uncertainty. Sam Conniff has been on a tremendous journey of discovery as he dealt with his own bouts of uncertainty.
He’s spoken with individuals all over the world, each an expert in their approach to uncertainty and armed with their insights and the help of some super clever academics, Sam’s equipping people with the tools and confidence to combat uncertainty and transform their lives for the better.
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I just took their Uncertainty Tolerance test. Give it a go and see what you score, then learn a bit about what your score means.
