Ambiguity Abounds – A Simple Model to Deal with it

There are bucket-loads of reasons we are faced with more ambiguity than ever before. Here is a short list:

• Change is accelerating. What is new is ambiguous by its nature.
• How to work effectively across cultures has no clear answer.
• New knowledge. Information is doubling every few years in technical fields.
• Startups, shutdowns, mergers and new partnerships. And with it the accompanying strategic, cultural and leadership upheavals.

Add to that the more mundane causes of ambiguity, such as lack of clear direction from the top, changing priorities, and difficult and complex situations – and your natural tendency may be to do one of these things:

1. Wait for direction
2. Stall and hope clarity emerges
3. Complain a bit
4. Carry on as usual

I hate to break it to you – but all four approaches are doomed. Which leaves us in a bit of a conundrum: we need to DO something, but WHAT? The EAA process (my term – named after the vocal sounds I tend to make when challenged with ambiguity) may help you sort things out.

Step 1: Determine the degree of ambiguity you actually have and the relative importance your decision or action holds. You can then take the appropriate next step.

When you unearth those situations in which there is both high uncertainty and high importance, you are dealing with the type of ambiguity that causes sleep deprivation, stomach distress, and pounding temples. When that happens, the EAA model can guide your actions.

There are three steps to the model:

1. Explore
   1. What do you know about the situation?
   2. How is this similar / dissimilar to other situations in the past?
   3. Who might have wisdom or guidance that will help you?
2. Assess
   1. What possible actions do you have? What are the likely outcomes of each?
   2. What guiding values or principles might you use to guide your next steps?
   3. What is the best case outcome? The worst case?
3. Act
   1. Take a few small steps.
   2. Evaluate the outcome.
   3. Adjust as needed.

There is one core action that I encourage you to take as you walk through the EAA model – and that is to discuss the situation, the options, and the next steps with others whose opinion you value. It may be that you huddle as a leadership team, that you engage a coach, probe with a mentor, pow wow with your peers, engage a professional, or call together a mastermind group. While you might feel a bit vulnerable admitting that you don’t have the answer, most times others don’t either. Chances are they’ll be either glad you surfaced this or flattered that you asked for their input. You’ll find that an open group exploration of your toughest challenges brings divergent thinking, a richer experience base, more options, and better clarity than one person alone can generate.

The EAA model is rather simple but powerful. Here’s why:

• It moves from “stuck” and “unstuck”.
• It precedes action with thought.
• It leverages what is known.
• It frames action in principles and values.
• It is iterative – testing and adjusting along the way.

So the question for the day – What ambiguous situations are you facing? Where are you stuck?