The Uncertainty Mindset 2019-2020

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#4: Strategic uncertainty

Vaughn Tan4th January 2021 at 4:49pm

This issue is about how the combination of two trends—increasing complexity and uncertainty and decreasing capacity to manage it—mean that the capacity to recognize and manage uncertainty is already rare and will become more useful over time. (Read more about the difference between risk and uncertainty here.)

This capacity is linked to what I call an uncertainty mindset: one which recognizes uncertainty and can handle it with facility. This has also been called negative capability.

Things that are rare and useful but also difficult to imitate or substitute are sustainably strategic. Developing the uncertainty mindset isn’t easy, and nothing can really replace it. Individuals and organizations which have (or which develop or manage to hire) the uncertainty mindset will have a strategic advantage that will continue to grow. Negotiatied joining is an example of how to design processes that develop the uncertainty mindset in organizations.

You can find it here: #4: Strategic uncertainty