Dealing With Ambiguity And Uncertainty
Photo by Razvan Horhat on Unsplash
A while ago, a good friend of mine sold his company in what was regarded by all parties as a wildly successful outcome. In a little over a decade, he had taken it from an idea to a material, profitable entity, one that was valued enough to be bought out by a major industry player.
From the outside looking in, then, every decision he ever made looked to be validated: his decision to blaze down the entrepreneurial path now looked like a no-brainer, and the journey that he and his team went on to get the business to where it was, looked like a straight-line path.
Except, of course, it wasn’t.
I spoke with him shortly afterwards, and he mentioned how the entire journey was anything but simple and straight-forward. How there were plenty of moments of doubt and discomfort and insecurity. How he never felt that absolutely everything was in place with no risks or issues throughout. Yes, there was consistency of growth, there was forward momentum, but there were also valleys of doubt and concern, material points of difficulty.
That, of course, is the reality of the work we do, not just in entrepreneurial terms but in any material initiative or project that we take on.
Unless we’ve done it time and time again (and perhaps not even then), there’s this romantic notion that many of us have about how easy and effortless our work should be. That once we ‘figure things out’, we’ll simply blaze forward.
The facts on the ground are quite different. There’s plenty of confusion and doubt. Plenty of second guessing, even after we’ve made our decision, as to whether we did the right thing. There’s almost always a nagging sense that we should have tried one more avenue, a different strategy or tactic which could have helped move us forward faster, better, more effectively. In other words, we’re confused. We’re anxious. We’re uncomfortable.
But dealing with that discomfort is exactly what the entrepreneurial challenge (or the special initiative challenge or the challenge of whatever material work you’re engaged in) is all about. The hardest thing in those instances is dealing with ourselves and our mindset, so that we can move forward with some level of confidence.
Not, it’s important to note, with absolute certainty, because that’s rare. Rather, it’s about moving forward with confidence in the midst of that uncertainty, balancing the dual ideas that we’ve made the right decision (given the context) and that that decision may well turn out wrong.
The point is, that discomfort is OK and part of the process. Lean into it. Accept it. Embrace it.
Step back and ask yourself, “What would I do if I wasn’t worried about the consequences?”. Embrace the idea that others don’t necessarily have better ideas than you, and that you can be trusted to determine the right path forward. In other words, trust in yourself and your judgment and your ability to make the best decision possible.
That mindset gives us a path. Perhaps not the exact right one, but one that we can adjust and mold to what we believe to be the right path. A decision that is meaningful, one that you can take. Understand, in that process, that you will do the best you can and if that doesn’t work, you’ll find another path around the obstacle. And if that path doesn’t work, you’ll find something else.
That acceptance is almost freeing in a way. Because the point is not perfection, it’s about building on what we know. It’s about learning from our mistakes.
It’s about positive, consistent, forward momentum.
