Curt Rosengren tells the story – First learn to ask the questions – of this guy Gary Erikson and how he turns round a business. Here’s the nub of it (Gary’s words in italics, the rest is Curt):
He found that a culture of questioning had a tremendous impact.
Getting comfortable with uncertainty and learning how to ask questions boosted company morale. Employees began to face challenges with excitement instead of dread.
I love that simple, yet incredibly powerful, insight. It’s just as valuable and relevant in our own journeys as it is for an organization. Create a culture of questioning. Get comfortable with uncertainty. The answers we need are there if we can let go of our need for white-knuckle certainty and explore.
Gary continues…
Anxiety and fear decrease when we become comfortable living in the gray area. The whole mood of a group or company can change when people are not expected to have all the answers.
Again, it’s exactly the same for each of our individual journeys. Life is not black and white, and we can either bang our heads against that fact, or we can learn to roll with it, discovering as we go.
I feel that getting more comfortable with uncertainty is often a key to faciliating anything. Sitting amid the chaos long enough to allow things to emerge without forcing.
