The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd)

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) explores various aspects of not-knowing, emphasizing the importance of flexibility and adaptability. It covers topics like consulting approaches, handling clutter, AI limitations, organizational adaptability, managing uncertainty, and personal growth in uncertain times.

Consulting Artificial Intelligence Organizational Dynamics Uncertainty Management Personal Development Minimalism and Clutter Education and Skill Development Health Crises and Responses

The hottest Substack posts of The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd)

And their main takeaways

#13: Revelation and discovery

39 implied HN points • 29 Jan 20
💼 Business Career development Organizational Behavior Personal Growth Self-discovery Leadership
  1. Uncertainty can either be forced on you or something you look for yourself. Knowing this helps you manage how you respond to it.
  2. It's important to take action when faced with unexpected uncertainty. Doing something can help you regain control and find new paths.
  3. When you decide to explore uncertainty on purpose, make sure you have a way to pull back if it gets overwhelming. This could be a mentor or a checklist to guide you.

That’s a wrap.

19 implied HN points • 06 Jan 21
🎭️ Culture Literature Philosophy Education Art Media
  1. The writer reflects on the first year of their newsletter and highlights how they've organized past issues to help readers navigate through them easily.
  2. They are promoting their book, which offers insights on dealing with uncertainty and explains the difference between risk and uncertainty.
  3. In Year Two, the newsletter will change focus, have a new name, and will likely be published every two weeks instead of weekly.

#52: A year and change

19 implied HN points • 28 Oct 20
🎭️ Culture Writing Communication Innovation Education
  1. Writing a newsletter regularly helped in becoming more comfortable with public writing. It was hard at first, but it got easier over time.
  2. This experience showed that sharing ideas publicly can reduce the fear of being judged and encourages clearer communication.
  3. Looking ahead, there's an openness to changing the newsletter's focus and format for the next year, inviting ideas from readers.

#48: How to design remote work

19 implied HN points • 30 Sep 20
💼 Business Remote work Organizational Behavior Innovation Work Culture
  1. Teams should have flexible roles that can change and adapt over time. This helps employees fit their work to their growing skills and the team's needs.
  2. Regularly evaluate each team's work through small, low-stake tests. This makes it easy for team members to show their abilities and helps build stronger connections.
  3. It's important to accept that some remote meetings might seem inefficient. They allow teams to grow together and can lead to better collaboration.

#46: Removing buildup

19 implied HN points • 16 Sep 20
🎭️ Culture Lifestyle Personal Development Innovation Food Mental health
  1. It's better to deal with small amounts of Stuff regularly than to let it pile up. When we let too much accumulate, it becomes overwhelming and hard to manage.
  2. Removing unnecessary routines and clutter can feel freeing. Keeping our lives organized helps us handle stress better, especially during big changes like moving.
  3. Making small, consistent changes in our daily habits can lead to less buildup over time. This makes it easier to adapt to life's uncertainties and maintain balance.
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#42: Room for discovery

19 implied HN points • 19 Aug 20
📚 Literature Books Publishing Writing Food culture Management
  1. A book can be interesting to many types of readers, not just one specific audience. It can appeal to people who enjoy high-end cuisine or want to know more about restaurant culture.
  2. People often wonder why traditional ways of running businesses don't work well anymore. Understanding new hiring and goal-setting methods can help create better workplaces.
  3. Publishing is tricky because books often have to fit into one category. This can make it hard for unique books to reach the right readers.

#26: Resilience

19 implied HN points • 29 Apr 20
💼 Business Small business Customer Loyalty Business strategy Pandemic impact
  1. Businesses that can adapt quickly to changes are more likely to survive tough times. Flexibility helps them respond effectively to new challenges.
  2. Having loyal customers is vital. When customers trust a business, they are more likely to stick around even if the business changes its offers.
  3. Understanding what customers need is crucial. Businesses that stay in close contact with their customers can better meet their changing demands.

#14: A time and place for everything

19 implied HN points • 05 Feb 20
💼 Business Conferences Networking Professional development
  1. Conferences should have a balance of structured time for talks and unstructured time for networking. This way, attendees can connect with new and old friends.
  2. The real value of a conference comes from the informal conversations and connections made during breaks or between sessions. These moments often lead to the best ideas.
  3. Leaving room for spontaneity and unexpected meetings can make a conference more enjoyable and productive. It allows participants to discover shared interests in a relaxed setting.

#12: True diversity

19 implied HN points • 22 Jan 20
💼 Business Diversity Innovation Organizational Human Resources Change Management
  1. True diversity is about having a rich mix of different types of information and perspectives. It's not just about meeting certain quotas based on traditional categories like race or gender.
  2. Organizations need to adapt to constant change, and diversity helps them innovate. The more diverse the team, the more ideas and solutions they have to deal with unexpected challenges.
  3. To promote true diversity, companies should create flexible roles, encourage employees to define what makes them unique, and train staff to understand the value of difference. This approach makes a company stronger and more innovative.

#10: Time for a change

19 implied HN points • 08 Jan 20
🌍 World Politics International relations Geopolitics Global Economy Political Change
  1. External events, like Brexit and climate change, create a lot of uncertainty that we can't control, and they can have serious impacts on society and the economy.
  2. It's important to embrace discomfort and the unknown in life. Trying new things helps us grow and learn to handle unexpected challenges better.
  3. Choosing to regularly face uncomfortable situations can prepare us for future uncertainties. It builds resilience and helps us cope with stress more effectively.

#8: voluntary uncertainty

19 implied HN points • 25 Dec 19
📖 Philosophy Mindset Uncertainty Decision-making Self-Improvement Cognition
  1. People can get overwhelmed by uncertainty, especially when it's continuous, like through events such as Brexit. They might feel a sense of fatigue that makes it hard to deal with new uncertainties.
  2. Practicing 'voluntary uncertainty' means putting yourself in situations where you choose to not know the outcome. This could be trying new things or making changes in life, and it helps you become better at handling real uncertainties.
  3. Organizations and individuals who get used to managing uncertainty can adapt and innovate better. They learn that not knowing everything can be a normal part of life, which helps reduce fear around unexpected changes.

#7: A living order

19 implied HN points • 18 Dec 19
🎭️ Culture Art Literature Food Music Philosophy
  1. Embracing uncertainty can lead to delightful surprises. Just like the unique flavors of a special wine, being open to unpredictability in life can help create new and exciting experiences.
  2. A living order, like a growing oak tree, cannot be planned out perfectly. It develops through small, unpredictable actions that build on each other over time.
  3. Hiring for creativity and handling uncertainty is becoming more important. Companies should focus on finding candidates who are adaptable and can thrive in changing environments, rather than just looking at traditional qualifications.

#51: The sensible approach

0 implied HN points • 21 Oct 20
💼 Business Sustainability Resilience Entrepreneurship Food Industry Innovation
  1. Building sustainable business models can help companies become more resilient in uncertain times. This means they’re better able to handle changes when they happen.
  2. Investing in long-term relationships with suppliers can lead to better products and prices. Businesses like Super 8 have found that working closely with growers has great benefits.
  3. A shift in mindset is necessary for companies to embrace new ways of doing business. Being open to change and innovation helps businesses build strength during tough times.

#47: Industrial unpredictability

0 implied HN points • 23 Sep 20
🍲 Food & Drink Culinary Arts Food Science Agriculture Sustainability Innovation
  1. Industrial food is made in large amounts, which makes it uniform and predictable. This means you often get the same taste every time, like how fast food always tastes similar.
  2. However, creating food that surprises and delights is much harder and usually requires skill and experience. Artisanal food can do this because it doesn't need to be the same every time.
  3. The future of food might involve large-scale production that can still offer unexpected flavors. This could take advanced technology to achieve, like artificial intelligence that understands taste.

#6: Stacking the deck

0 implied HN points • 11 Dec 19
🍲 Food & Drink Wine Agriculture Biodiversity Culinary Arts
  1. Low-intervention wine means less control in the winemaking process. Winemakers focus on letting nature take its course rather than forcing a specific outcome.
  2. High-intervention wine requires a lot of control and predictability. This method uses various techniques to ensure the wine meets exact expectations.
  3. Thinking differently about control can help in many areas of life. Embracing uncertainty and letting things develop naturally can lead to better and more surprising outcomes.

#32: Missing the point

0 implied HN points • 10 Jun 20
🚌 Education Learning Assessment Curriculum Technology Failure
  1. Fear of failure is often unnoticed, especially in organizations. If we can't see it, we can't talk about it or fix it.
  2. People tend to create excuses to avoid actions that might lead to failure. Recognizing these excuses is key to overcoming them.
  3. Technology makes it easy to find answers, but it can prevent true understanding. Students need to learn that it's okay not to know everything.

Strategies for different uncertainties

0 implied HN points • 14 Feb 24
💼 Business Management Strategy Innovation Decision-making Organizational Behavior
  1. Organizations struggle to handle uncertainty despite it being crucial for success. They need clear ways to think and act when facing unknowns.
  2. Even those who understand uncertainty need tools to persuade others in their organization to engage with it effectively.
  3. Different types of not-knowing exist, and recognizing these differences helps organizations make better decisions and adapt more easily.

#34: The difficulties of not-knowing

0 implied HN points • 24 Jun 20
📖 Philosophy Mindset Innovation Decision-making Uncertainty Crisis response
  1. Innovation is often uncertain, and traditional management methods may not work well for it. Organizations need to adapt their approach to hiring and goal-setting when they don't know what their end goals are.
  2. There are different mindsets that organizations can have. An 'uncertainty mindset' helps teams navigate unknown futures better than a 'risk mindset', which assumes the future can be predicted.
  3. The current global situation highlights the need for understanding and accepting uncertainty. Recognizing that we don't have all the answers can help organizations adjust their strategies more effectively.