Seven ways to lead through ambiguity
This is the second in a two-part blog focusing on the essential competencies of situational leadership in organisational settings. The first in the series focuses on ‘seven ways to lead through situational complexity’.
People often struggle with ambiguity, but why is that? Well ambiguity implies contestability and uncertainty. When things are contestable and uncertain, there is limited assurance. Without a clear sense of where you stand, it is difficult to know whether to move forward, stand back or stay still. Ambiguity is a step into the unknown and with the unknown, there is the prospect of failure, perhaps even disaster. Given the opportunity, most people would avoid ambiguity if possible.
Notwithstanding, effective leadership requires the ability to deal with ambiguity and be comfortable in doing so. The most capable leaders make critical decisions with fragments of information, based on the premise that reasonable assumptions can be just as powerful as undeniable facts.
But how do they do it? Set out below are seven ways to lead through ambiguity.
1. Rational probability
Probability is a mathematical principle that deals with events and the likelihood of their occurrence. As part of the critical reasoning process, it enables individuals to make decisions without being paralysed by the prospect of an adverse outcome. Leaders need to weigh up whether on the balance of probability, what they do not know represents such a gap in their knowledge that it outweighs what they do know. Commonly, the default is to assign the unknown, the highest possible threat level, which can often lead to irrational and even impulsive responses.
2. Disciplined autonomy
It is impossible to navigate ambiguity without the ability to think and act with a high degree of autonomy. The idea of ‘disciplined autonomy’ simply means that whilst it is important for leaders to be self-confident, the capacity for confidence without a generous dose of self-management leads to catastrophe. When leaders act with disciplined autonomy, they do not become inert in the absence of direction or guidance. On the contrary, without precedent behind them or template in from of them, they can fill in the gaps and join the dots.
3. An adaptive stance
When people are adaptable, far from experiencing awkwardness, they can be comfortable, effective and productive in any environment. By quickly absorbing information about their surroundings, adaptability empowers leaders to remain alert and responsive in the face of current and emerging challenges. At its most effective and impactful, adaptability is an unconscious expression not a conscious choice. It functions as a default or fail-safe mechanism, virtually guaranteeing survivability even when faced with hazards and dangers that could not be survived by others.
4. Limitless thinking
Where ambiguity often thwarts organisational leaders is in the mind. Decision makers work best with the definitive and are less comfortable with the figurative. For organisational leadership, ambiguity presents not as a plurality of absolute options, but as a Rorschach test that is open to individual interpretation. But here’s the rub; one of the most potent tools in the presence of ambiguity is a fertile mind. Especially one with the capacity to hold a multiplicity of deep thoughts at the same time, without being thrown by their apparent contradictions.
5. Improvisation
In simple terms, improvisation is what you do with what you have where you are. Those with the capacity to improvise can operate much more effectively in shades of grey than in black or white and in proportionate terms, can be just as productive with few resources as others can be with many. Notwithstanding, the art of improvisation does not dictate that you must possess all the answers. On the contrary, it simply means that you can formulate effective responses even without all the facts. Improvisation is predicated on the assumption that: if you cannot make a way through, then you will find a way around.
6. Power of perspective
Whether you see the glass as half empty or half full, is evidence of your perspective. In the broader context of navigating ambiguity, perspective speaks to whether you see opportunities or threats, insurmountable barriers or open doors. The power of perspective frames both the state of mind and follow-through. When ambiguity leads some to become incapacitated by their indecision, others will be inspired to drive forward with their ideas. With a positive perspective, anything is possible, but with a negative outlook nothing gets done.
7. Healthy risk appetite
Uncertainty is in the very nature and ‘bloodstream’ of ambiguity. Therefore, navigating it, particularly within an organisational setting, can be fraught with potential hazards. Tactically, the most effective way to face ambiguity is with a healthy risk appetite. For clarification, this does not mean that the approach should be reckless, nor does it imply that a healthy risk appetite is an indemnity from hazards. It simply indicates that when attitudes are mature and bearing is forward leaning, risk can be more easily managed.
Let’s remind ourselves that ambiguity is a form of complexity. If a piece of paper is presented to me with a series of highly advanced quadratic equations written on it, finding solutions to those problems would be challenging, even if I am numerate. Likewise, if I am presented with the same sheet of paper and nothing is written on it, deciding what to do next would be equally challenging, but for different reasons. The corollary of the above is this: in an organisational context, it’s not enough to understand one form of complexity, you must also understand the others.
