Ambiguity, and how to deal with it

Imagine you are a professional working in a corporate environment, managing multiple stakeholders and projects. One of the most critical challenges you'll face is dealing with ambiguity. Ambiguity is a fundamental experience for professionals operating in a VUCA world—an environment characterized by Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity.

The challenge of ambiguity in knowledge work

Ambiguity is particularly challenging for those engaged in knowledge work. Most modern knowledge work involves overlapping domains—technology, humanities, commerce, to name a few. While individuals can build expertise in specific fields, success often favours those who develop an intersection of skills across multiple domains. Even deep experts must collaborate effectively with others who possess different skill sets and expertise, or they risk struggling to achieve their goals.

This overlap inherently breeds ambiguity. Each domain has its own "language," and people from one domain often find it challenging to understand those from another. This dissonance arises partly from the differing objectives of each domain but largely from poor communication—whether over-communication or under-communication.

Mastering the ability to navigate and feel comfortable with ambiguity is essential for success in the modern professional landscape. It is a non-negotiable skill, requiring effort on two fronts:

• Mindset: Cultivating a growth mindset is crucial for thriving in ambiguity. Without it, professionals can quickly feel overwhelmed and unable to progress.
• Practical Actions: Translating this mindset into everyday practices helps bring clarity and momentum.

Over a meal with a friend who now works at a prestigious consulting firm, we discussed this topic. She is an analyst supporting commercial consulting teams, managing multiple projects with diverse stakeholders. Often, she must deliver value-driven outcomes without the luxury of fully understanding the domain. Her situation epitomizes ambiguity: unclear requirements, limited resources, tight timelines, undefined ownership, and non-existent processes.

How does one handle such ambiguity? Based on over 20 years of professional experience, here are a few strategies that have worked for me.

1. Frontload, Frontload, Frontload

To manage ambiguity successfully, begin before you're ready.

The concept of "frontloading your project" is well-articulated in The McKinsey Edge by Shu Hattori, though I've applied it since my early career. Frontloading means driving maximum effort during the initial phase of a project—precisely when ambiguity is at its peak. This proactive approach lays the foundation and reduces uncertainty.

Here’s what frontloading looks like in practice:

• Over-index resources early: Commit significant effort in the first week or day of the project.
• Adopt a bias for action: Engage stakeholders, list key questions, define potential outputs, and anticipate challenges.
• Build relationships: Meet with team members early to understand their perspectives and ideas.
• Plan ahead: Schedule meetings and establish timelines, even with incomplete information.

Frontloading combats analysis paralysis by prioritizing action. It fosters teamwork, incremental solutions, and momentum, which can influence others positively. By demonstrating progress, you can elicit valuable input from senior stakeholders, reduce ambiguity, and establish control over expectations.

2. Reframe the focus from outcomes to process

Ambiguity becomes more daunting when the focus is solely on outcomes. Instead, shift your attention to processes and the next actionable step.

If a clear process doesn't exist, create one. Focus on executing the next task in the sequence. This approach simplifies complexity and reduces the perception of ambiguity. Dale Carnegie famously advised living in “day-tight compartments”—focusing on today and the immediate task rather than worrying about the entire journey.

I call this approach Process Quest. (You can read more about it here.)

3. Document and follow Up

Always document discussions, ideas, and thoughts. Never rely solely on memory.

Overconfidence in our memory is a common trap, especially in ambiguous situations with many moving parts. Documenting ensures clarity, prevents conflated ideas, and helps track progress. Reviewing notes often reveals insights that may not have been apparent earlier.

Follow-up is equally crucial. Shu Hattori emphasizes that follow-up is a low-profile yet vital activity. By revisiting discussions, identifying root causes, and demonstrating sustained interest, you can effectively reduce ambiguity and uncover actionable insights.

Systems as an antidote to ambiguity

The three practical strategies above—frontloading, process orientation, and documentation—underscore the importance of systems in mitigating ambiguity. Combined with an open and growth-oriented mindset, these systems enhance resilience and clarity in uncertain environments.

A word of caution

These strategies should not be pursued obsessively or frantically. Instead, approach them with presence and intentionality. Adopt a SLOW approach as an antidote to urgency and haste. (You can explore the concept of SLOW here.)

BOOK NOTE - Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson

I truly enjoyed reading Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. Jobs needs no introduction, and Isaacson is among the best biographers, but I had not managed to read this book since its publication in 2011. Incidentally, my father, who is an avid reader, had purchased it in December 2011, and it was sitting in my parents' home in Bangalore. I was rummaging through the books during my recent visit, and this tome caught my attention.

I have been a fan of so many things Jobs did, his personality, and the iconic impact he has had on the world. I have loved using the iPad, but for many reasons, I had not bought into the cult of Apple. I do not like the closed-loop system of Apple devices, for instance, and I had only heard about the sort of mercurial person Jobs was. I had seen the not-so-great movie about Jobs starring Ashton Kutcher. I had consumed the many videos of Jobs talking about marketing and product design on the internet. I had watched, many times, the iPhone launch event in 2007. And of course, I had heard and read about the many things said about Jobs by the people who worked with him.

More recently, I had read Sir Johnny Ive's article remembering Jobs on his 10th death anniversary in 2021. Jobs and Ive's obsession with design was something I loved and thought highly of.

Ive writes beautifully about Steve's curiosity and the insight he brought to any situation:

"...but now, above all else, I miss his singular and beautiful clarity. Beyond his ideas and vision, I miss his insight that brought order to chaos.
It has nothing to do with his legendary ability to communicate but everything to do with his obsession with simplicity, truth, and purity."

What Ive said about Jobs' curious mind was what had primed me to pick up this book and read it straight in six days. I was wondering, as I read, what it was that made it possible for Steve to have this insight and curiosity. One was certainly his unique genius, but Isaacson offers another note from the Zeitgeist:

"The 60s created an anarchic mindset that helped imagine a world that did not yet exist."

Walter Isaacson does a great job of telling us the story of Steve Jobs—his professional and personal journey—and what you realize is that, for Steve, there was no barrier between the two. The two were the same. He lived one life and brought his intense personality to every facet of his life.

I will mention briefly below a few points that resonated with me from this masterful biography.

Reality Distortion Field

Much has been said in the book and outside about Jobs' famous reality distortion field.

How he could get people—and himself—to get things done despite seemingly insurmountable odds.
Believing and obsessing about getting something done is an important skillset, and Jobs seemed to have it inbuilt in him. Manifesting on steroids. One version of this reality distortion field is about how someone is perceived. Nolan Bushnell, the CEO of Atari, tells a young Steve Jobs that

"Pretend to be in complete control, and people will assume you are," and Steve does this most of his life.

It is different from "fake it till you make it," but in the same vein. Different because this is not about faking it at all.

The reality distortion field is all about really believing that something is real, despite all evidence against it, and willing it into reality.

Teacher Arrives When the Student Is Ready and Willing

I have often found that one is only able to appreciate something when one is ready for it.

It might be learning about something or just even appreciating a piece of art—there is a certain openness needed for the mind to form connections and reveal insight. Early in Steve's life, when he is in search of a Japanese Zen master and is thinking about traveling to Japan to visit one, he finds a spiritual master right down the road. His spiritual advisor urges him to stay, and Steve says,

"He said there is nothing over there that isn’t here, and he was right. I learned the truth of the Zen saying that if you are willing to travel around the world to meet a teacher, one will appear next door."

Often, we underestimate the power of what we already know in helping us become better.

Intersection of Technology and Humanities

We often read about the industrial revolution and technological revolution and assume it is about growth in those domains.

But what this book illustrates is it is actually the intersection of those domains with the humanities and arts that really creates progress. Jobs' unique insight that made Apple, Pixar, and NeXT—all of his creations—such amazing innovators is that they put technology in service of art and not the other way around. The growth in domains happens naturally, but it is when tech advancements are put in service of art that true progress happens. Many technology leaders, like Xerox and others, had the technology, but it needed Jobs to obsess about the graphical user interface and make it about an elegant user experience that made the progress in the field possible. Jobs' reality distortion field made that possible.

Form may follow function for the masses, but for real progress to happen, function and form need to be equally important and elevated into an art form.

I highly recommend this book because it puts you in a reality distortion field.

By describing Jobs and his characteristics and without really offering any judgment on it, Isaacson masterfully invites us into believing.

Finally, on a personal note, something which amused me because it resonated with me but was also a cautionary note: Jobs was a strict vegan for most of his life, as I am as well. What I also found revealed in his mindset, which I also very strongly share, is the concept of pleasure from restraint. Lisa, his estranged daughter, observes the following about his strict diets and fasting: "Even at a young age Lisa began to realize his diet obsessions reflected a life philosophy, one in which asceticism and minimalism could heighten subsequent sensations.”

“He believed that great harvests came from arid sources, pleasure from restraint,’ she noted. ‘He knew the equations that most people didn’t know: Things led to their opposites.”

The cautionary note in this is that despite these healthy practices, it was probably his intense obsessions that led to his health challenges.

Steve Jobs' worldview was the opposite of moderation, but sometimes, while intensity blazes bright and illuminates the path for others, it can burn out fast as well. The genius of Jobs is that he might have passed away early, but what he managed to create in the short time was so bright that it is illuminating worlds long after he has gone.