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your brain experiences a reward. When patterns do not play out the way you expect, your brain
experiences a threat. Ambiguity is distressing because it means we cannot rely on patterns, we can’t
predict what will happen next. This gives us a sense of a lack of control or autonomy. When uncertainty is
beyond our control, we experience high levels of stress. When uncertainty is within our control (we need
to make a decision about something), the stress feels more manageable. To manage ambiguity and
uncertainty, take stock of what control you have in the situation. What choices can you make. What
routes might you take, given different possible outcomes. The more you can feel like an agent in the
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situation, the lower your stress levels will be.

Tips to develop Manages ambiguity

1. Holding too tightly to the past? Just let go. Dealing comfortably with uncertainty and ambiguity
means letting go of sureness. Like letting go of one trapeze in the air to catch the next one. For a
small amount of time, you have nothing to hold on to. If you cling to the first trapeze, afraid you will
fall, you’ll always return to the same old platform—safe but not new or different. Staying put means
it’s more likely your safe platform will keep getting smaller and smaller until it disappears completely.
Taking that leap gets you to a new platform and a new place. Manage the uncertainty around you by
being proactive. Keep informed about business/technological advances. Keep alert to trends and
what entrepreneurs are inventing in their garages. Visualize different pathways and different
outcomes. Talk about it. Invite ideas. The more you do this, the more comfortable you’ll feel because
you’ll be part of the next wave.

2. Don’t know where to begin? Experiment with small steps. Imagine all the lights suddenly go out.
Or you wake up in the middle of the night in a strange location. What do you do? You feel your way
around until your eyes adjust. You reach for a light. Embarking on a new venture or acting on an
ambiguous problem with no precedents to follow is similar. Work to make the unknown known. Break
a large issue into manageable pieces. Take small steps and see what happens. Get instant feedback,
correct the course, then move forward a little more. Don’t try to get it all right the first time. The more
uncertain the situation is, the more likely mistakes will be made. Expect it—bumping into things while
looking for the light is common. Think of mistakes as valuable feedback steering you in the right
direction. Make it safe to talk about them. Build curiosity while undertaking risk—this will decrease
stress and increase creativity. Experiment, prototype, conduct soft launches. Engage stakeholders to
make sense of what emerges and evolves. If criticism follows flawed results, accept it while pointing
out how you’ll apply what’s been learned in the next iteration.

3. Think you need to have all the answers? Convey your overall intention. Many feel shaky without
a concrete plan. It’s understandable—how can you lead when you’re not sure where you’re going?
How can you assess progress without clear targets to measure against? Moving through transitions
or into any new turf, people want to know where they stand. What to do when they go to work each
day. More importantly, why those things matter. So speak honestly about what’s going on. Explain
what you know and don’t know. If you don’t have a game plan with firm time lines, share the overall
intention instead—what you’re aiming toward and how that supports the mission. Change expert
Peggy Holman asserts that intentions are “powerful shapers of action.” They energize and align self-
directed people in complex situations. They fuel a sense of purpose. So co-create your intentions with
invested colleagues, communicate with them often, and watch what emerges. Make sense of patterns
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