During COVID, I remember coaching leaders not to open a meeting with some variation of “I know we’d rather be meeting in person, but here we are…” (or any sentence containing the word “pivot”). It immediately sucked out of the room whatever little energy was left. The tone of scarcity was set.
People’s levels of change uncertainty are currently sitting at similar levels to where they were in 2020. The 2026 equivalent to the above? A knowing nod and quick reference to “all the things going on” or “the times, they are a lot.”
It’s shorthand for the polycrisis, which itself is shorthand for a growing list of unsettling dynamics at a global scale that have most of us feeling off. We want to show we’re not oblivious by acknowledging the times, but doing so can be deflating. Not exactly an energizing opener.
I’m currently writing a book to help find our footing when change won’t stop. One challenge I’m grappling with is that during times of uncertainty, we crave clarity. Action steps. A to-do list that will make us feel better. We want to end the ambiguity. (I’ve heard it’s one contributing factor to the rise in extremism and polarization. Grappling with nuance is much harder.)
I want the book to be practical. But I also want it to be a relevant response to “reading the room.” That requires learning to sit more comfortably in the ambiguity rather than seeking to resolve it. As Matt Church would say, the times call for trusted advisors to be “perspectival rather than prescriptive.”
It’s the irony of expertise. I’m learning to sit longer with open loops, even as I’m writing about the need to do so. We might be craving simple answers, but they’re like junk food — emptying but not nourishing — and ultimately, they leave us with a bigger headache instead of sustenance. But I also recognize that a deep sigh and nod to “the times” isn’t enough to restore leaders’ energy.
Where I’m finding my energy through this process is by exploring a third way. Adaptability skills. They’re learnable, although not easy to learn. We don’t need to get good at all of them — it’s enough to find a few that align with how we already prefer to show up. And when we strengthen those, we don’t only get better at adapting — we start to enjoy the need to do so. The relentlessness of change becomes energizing rather than depleting.
In the meantime, it also helps to be reassured that you’re not alone on the journey. Thanks for joining me.