We are now on week 3 of lessons I’ve learned from working in a central role.  Last week was about leadership and power.  This week is about the importance of taking steps forward when you’re mired in ambiguity.

I’ve been in a few central roles in my career.  Generally, these roles are pretty ambiguous.  For example, in my career role I’m supposed to lead innovation and lead us to the future.  Let’s be honest.  I have no idea what that means.  I can’t say with certainty what will happen.  Recently, I’ve been sharing thoughts on what a future agentic insights ecosystem could look like.  If more than 40% of that ends up being true, I’ll consider that a miracle.  All of this complexity and ambiguity can feel overwhelming.  It can stop me from taking action.

Let’s make some connections.  Have you ever felt paralyzed by ambiguity?  It’s easy to get stuck thinking and thinking and overthinking every possible angle and every possible contingency.  While that thinking might make us feel like we are doing something, the truth is that thinking isn’t always the same thing as taking action.

I don’t with certainty the exact coordinates of where we need to go in the future.  I do have a north star though.  I do have things I believe will likely continue to be true.  The value of data will continue to increase in a world of AI.  Getting data AI ready will continue to grow in importance.  Having tools to help get the most of the data will be critical.  As there are more and more tools, being clear on the tool and the problem they solve will be more important than ever. 

I know that if I take action toward solving those problems, I’ll likely be walking in the right direction.  I’m humble enough to know I can always redirect along the way.  Instead of being paralyzed, I’ll keep taking steps and keep taking steps and keep taking steps until we finally get to that future.

The challenge- How will you keep taking steps forward through ambiguity?

By the way, the picture is from a Tough Mudder last year.  I crawl through mud as a hobby, which explains a lot about how weird I am 😉

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry