6 Responses to “Dealing with Uncertainty”

1. john_d says:

   11 March , 2008 at 21:30

   Interesting question, but does anything ever work out? By that I mean it is so difficult to say something has worked out because tomorrow a ‘black swan’ event could bring everything tumbling to the ground…

   Turning in for an early night now but I’ll try to answer your question tomorrow, assuming I’m still here…

   John Durrant

2. john_d says:

   11 March , 2008 at 22:11

   I’m a firm believer that success is directly related to the level of uncertainty you are willing to embrace. We fool ourselves by thinking we are so rational and can control everything. Control is so boring, theres much more fun to be found in uncertainty. Alan Watts (Wisdom of Insecurity) is an interesting read on this subject & more recently Nasim Taleb’s Black Swan book beautifully illustrates the level of randomness in our lives and our utter stupidity in thinking we’re rational & in control…

   Entering uncertain situations with faith in your own ability to somehow work out a solution is the key…

   John Durrant
   The Pamper Company

3. richardderwentcooke says:

   11 March , 2008 at 22:13

   Very Good John,

   Interesting thoughts, and I’m inclined to agree, challenging as this is!

   Do you, buy any chance, have any examples of this working out for you?

   With regard to Nasim Taleb’s Black Swan see yesterday’s post here

4. denise says:

   11 March , 2008 at 23:25

   Interesting points made by both Richard and John and I agree – up to a point.

   I do think there are some things that we do control and that it is important to remember what they are.

   You may not have any say over whether you wake up tomorrow morning but you can control how you face the day. No one can make you angry unless you let them.

   It may not be possible to control what someone says to you but you can decide how you respond to them. Words in and of themselves have no meaning; it is only the power we give them that make them positive or negative.

   You can’t control [ultimately] whether you close that great deal this afternoon but only you can control whether you let defeat drag you down or take that feedback and use it make yourself a better business person.

   As for the rest I’m with Richard and John. Well it’d be no fun if we always knew what was coming next

   Denise Hamilton,
   Merchant Magazine

5. john_d says:

   12 March , 2008 at 17:30

   Good Points Denise

   Well I did make it through the night to see another day… Denise’s point adds another great method of dealing with uncertainty, to throw yet another book into the discussion – Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning is a very graphic illustration of Denise’s point as he is a holocaust survivor who realised that despite all of the attrocities that were inflicted they could never take away his freedom to choose his own thoughts and his own response to the situation:

   Listen to the lyrics from Stand by Sly & the Family Stone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14yEO8nfqxE
   Don’t you know that you are free
   Well at least in your mind if you want to be…

   John Durrant

6. richardderwentcooke says:

   12 March , 2008 at 17:33

   Good Points Denise

   Thank you for that input. I think I would prefer to say that “you can chose your response” rather than control it.

   If only we can relaxe a little, and feel our way rather than trying to figure it all out I have a feeling it would work out a good deal better