Welcome to the first of a short series of posts on decision making in uncertainty.
I spend a lot of time helping leaders navigate the “messy middle,” personally and organizationally. Liminal spaces are ideally ones we visit temporarily, but the feelings of uncertainty we experience while there seem to be more pervasive right now.
How best to make wise decisions when we are feeling untethered and are not confident about the signals we’re receiving?
Let’s start with setting expectations about the quantity of information on which we are basing our decisions.
I am a fan of evidence-based decision making. And…
We will never have full information.
We will always have too much information.
If you are prone to thinking you need more data on which to base your decision, ask yourself whether you already have enough evidence about what’s most important to be able to move forward. Chances are, more information is unlikely to make your decision clearer. And full information is not a prerequisite for making a wise decision.
If you are prone to feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information you have, embrace both acceptance and curation. Accept the fact that information overload is both real and inevitable. We therefore need to be selective rather than exhaustive. Choose the number and quality of your information sources carefully, then carry on.
Momentum is powerful, and it requires action. Don’t let your imperfect quantity of information paralyze you. If you assumed the amount of information you currently have is about right, what decision would you make today?
In the messy middle? Join me on Friday March 20 for our no-reading-required book club. Gill Deacon will join us as we talk about her new book A Love Affair with the Unknown, along with several other titles on thriving in uncertainty. And if you can’t make it to either of the live times, we send the recording to those registered.
I love talking about this stuff. If you need a speaker for an upcoming event, you’d like me to be a guest on your podcast, reach out.