CM 013: Jamie Holmes on the Surprising Benefits of Uncertainty

No one likes uncertainty, yet our success may depend on it. In the bestseller, Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing, Jamie Holmes argues that uncertainty and ambiguity are invaluable mindsets in an increasingly complex world. In fact, he wants us to rethink our desire for order and closure, so that we can be better leaders, decision makers, and innovators. A recent Future Tense Fellow at New America, Jamie has written for the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Philadelphia Inquirer, CNN, the Huffington Post, POLITICO, the Christian Science Monitor, the New Republic, the Atlantic, Slate, Foreign Policy, and the Daily Beast. In this episode you will learn: the reasons why a high tolerance for uncertainty is so valuable right now the ways we can use uncertainty to avoid bad decisions how our need for closure and order drives so much of what we do the value of uncertainty for innovation and creativity strategies for guarding against negative behaviors associated with certainty when (and how) to hire employees who thrive on uncertainty the kinds of leaders we prefer versus need in times of uncertainty how successful, innovative companies incorporate uncertainty into their business models what this means for educators and learners the real-world disorder and chaos associated with innovation, discovery, and creativity concrete strategies to help students get more comfortable with uncertainty what a renowned golf instructor can teach us about feedback the power of travel and bilingualism for building this capacity the power of reading fiction for helping us strengthen our tolerance for uncertainty Jamie also shares how uncertainty, ambiguity and not knowing make us better leaders and expand our capacity for innovation and creativity. Episode Links Jerome Bruner Leo Postman Travis Proulx Jordan Peterson Arie Kruglanski Need for Closure scale Stalling for Time by Gary Noesner Ambiguity Intolerance Zara Inditex Amancio Ortega Jim Lang Assumption College Brilliant Blunders by Mario Livio Bob Christina Dean Simonton If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. Thanks for listening!