Change leaders — it’s OK to be lost
Image from Unsplash by @timmossholder
Innovation and progressive project leadership is as much an art as it is a science.
You can follow best practice, stick to the methods, follow a process to the letter, but, more often than not, it’s not that simple (and nor should it be).
When you face a time in a project where you don’t quite know where to go next, my hope is that this is because you have decided to be a pioneer and forge new territory.
This is when not knowing is good.
Daunting, but good.
If this has ever been you, well done — you are an explorer.
So, what should you do if you reach this time of extreme ambiguity and indecision?
I believe you should do two things:
Acknowledge that not knowing is OK — fight your ego; the voice that niggles in your head, suggesting you should know the answer or you’re an imposter.
Act. Keep going. Just do something.
The acknowledgement frees you of the mind trap that is worrying ‘why you don’t know the answer?’ and waiting to be ‘found out’. It also frees you to reach out to others who might have some ideas.
Taking action is most important because it is the exact opposite of stopping.
Taking action, even if it is in the wrong direction or if it is ultimately a bit of wasted work, tends to provoke answers by its very essence. Wrong actions result in guidance towards the right path. Lateral activities can free your subconscious to figure out what you’re just not seeing. Asking new questions can reveal unknown-unknowns.
Stopping and becoming introspective doesn’t create the ‘luck’ required to uncover new insight and direction.
Recently my team has been dealing with a lot of ambiguity in our role responding to COVID-19. Working in a space with no clear problem, no clear client, no clear deliverables and no previously trodden path from concept to implementation with such pace. I had many moments of feeling directionless.
On reflection, is was a persistence to keep moving ‘forward’ by doing something — anything — that helped us uncover the right path. When we didn’t know, we built something — a mockup, a blueprint, a slide — and we pitched it to someone. We made our own ‘luck’.
If this story resonates, I commend you for being a design pioneer. The world needs many more of you.
Persist. Be OK with not knowing. Keep moving.
Written by Cam Birrell
@CamBirrell