Handling Ambiguity

What Handling Ambiguity means

Handling ambiguity—and it’s close cousin, handling uncertainty—means being able to move forward in spite of unclear or non-existent direction. Uncertainty comes about from poor directions, such as “Fold the piece of paper in half,” which leaves one guessing as to which direction—lengthwise or crosswise—the fold should be made. Ambiguity is a bit more strategic, and has to do with a lack of context. For instance, if I say hello to you and you respond with a half-smile, you are being ambiguous: there is no mistaking the half-smile, but I have no context for it… are you angry with me? Annoyed? Is your mind elsewhere?

I define “the ability to handle ambiguity” as a combination of problem solving and initiative: it’s (1) the ability to tell the difference between things that should be dealt with literally and other things that require interpretation, (2) the ability to conduct the interpretation, and (3) the initiative to act on your conclusions. The ability to handle uncertainty is the same, but with less emphasis on the first part.

How to spot the ability to Handle Ambiguity

When determining someone’s ability to handle ambiguity, look for comfort with social ambiguity, intellectual curiosity, a willingness to take action in the moment, and good judgment when taking action. If you have someone you wonder about (not yourself, obviously; I mean, if you have a friend who’s ability to handle ambiguity is in doubt), then watch specifically for the following:

Comfort with unclear social settings. Does the person get visibly nervous during social silences? Can s/he tolerate a pause in a conversation? How does s/he handle it when left alone at a social function—does s/he introduce him/herself to others? Stand comfortably alone? Look about nervously or latch on desperately to someone else? Look at both what the person does as well as how s/he does it… and don’t tell me that introverts stink at social interactions. Baloney. Introverts who are good with ambiguity go out and learn the social skills necessary to survive social ambiguity.
Intellectually curious. Look for comfort with unclear problems and issues. Does the person become visibly agitated when presented with a new, novel, or challenging problem? Does the person start to make excuses before even attempting to solve it, or does s/he dismiss the problem? Does s/he jump into action without doing the proper analysis? Again, look at how the person approaches the situation, not just what s/he does: someone who is risk averse may analyze a problem and then opt out! Pay attention to the level of stress associated with dealing with the issue; someone who can’t handle ambiguity will likely show a spike in nervous energy.
A strong and demonstrable action orientation. I don’t care what people say. I watch what they do. Given poor instructions, does the person cry that s/he can’t move forward for want of clear directions, or does s/he formulate a hypothesis about what’s expected and then move forward? In a social interaction, does the person provide structure, for example by introducing people to one another, asking questions, or suggesting activities for the group? When discussing issues, does the person leave issues on an academic plane or naturally end conversations with an action plan? Does s/he then follow up?
Good judgment.Does the person show awareness of his/her sphere of influence? Does that awareness translate into an ability to define issues in terms of elements that can be controlled? Does the person show the maturity to focus most of his/her energy on those controllable issues… or does s/he waste time complaining about the parts s/he can’t impact? People who handle ambiguity well focus on moving forward by defining issues on their own terms. They tend not to worry (too much) about things they can’t control.

Unfortunately, I generally assume an inability to handle ambiguity until I see otherwise for myself. And again, I don’t care what people say about themselves. The “default setting” for human beings is to claim to be good at taking initiative… while actually being quite poor at it.

Developing the Ability to Handle Ambiguity

If you haven’t seen this video yet, now is the time to watch it:

To develop your ability to handle ambiguity, focus on reducing your need for externally applied structure. You can do this by playing little games at work, including what I call the “100% responsibility” game, which goes like this: whatever your problem is, assume that you have 100% responsibility for solving it. Mom and Dad are in the other room and just gave you the “We don’t care who started it, you end it” speech. On a sheet of paper, write down what you need to solve the problem, and then go do those things—regardless of what other people are doing. Now, there are three rules about what you write down that will make this simultaneously challenging and rewarding:

You cannot be reliant on someone else changing who they are; you must accept everyone exactly on an “as is” basis. If you can express your thought as, “I could solve this problem ‘if only’ so-and-so would…” then you need to erase it. No “if only” allowed.
You cannot rely on someone else to do something out of the goodness of their heart. If you need someone’s help, then you must figure out how you are going to get it. Asking “pretty please” and putting sugar on top won’t cut it. Rationalizations that a 2nd grader could see through don’t count. You need to provide real value in exchange for what you need.
You cannot be waiting for anyone to do something. Whatever the plan, YOU must control the next step.
BONUS: Expect the list to look pretty simple and straightforward. Don’t worry about that. But once you have the list, put more thought and effort into figuring out the best way how to execute your plans as you put into determining what the plan would be in the first place.

Conclusion

In today’s world, the ability to handle ambiguity is arguably the single most important skill we all need to develop. If you run a company or department, use the lists above to help guide your hiring decisions and development planning. If you are an individual, use these lists to improve yourself. Either way, you will not only give yourself an edge in your job and your career, you will also find yourself better able to absorb what the world throws at you without one of those knee-jerk reactions that sends people too far toward one extreme or another.

And we could all use a little more freedom from knee-jerk reactions!

This is a repost, with some edits and updates, of a a piece that originally ran December, 2008. I’m dusting it off because the way 2009 has been going, this seems even more relevant today than it did a year ago… this is adapted from my presentation and training module on the same topic.

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Tagged as: handling ambiguity, politics, Self-Development