Be comfortable with ambiguity
At the Urban Land Institute’s Fall Meeting a couple of weeks ago, I attended a dinner for one of the councils, a group of 100 or so homebuilding executives.
The conversations, for the most part, went something like this:
“How you doing?”
“Hanging in there. This market’s just brutal. You?”
“Yeah, brutal.”
“Yeah.”
I commented to one colleague that in times like this, my work actually gets more interesting. That’s not to say I enjoy the plunging revenues, slashed budgets and layoffs. But we’re now trying new things and moving in new directions that we never would have risked when the money was pouring in. And that’s a lot more interesting than simply riding the wave.
My colleague gave me a funny look and said, “You must be comfortable with ambiguity.”
I’m not sure he meant it as a compliment. But I sure took it as one.
November 30th, 2009
2:09 pm
What Matters Most is a book by James Hollis that speaks to this idea of being comfortable with ambiguity, Greg. Hollis is a Jungian psychologist and is writing here about the second path of life people start to take (or most people) when they make a choice to live more intentionally. Once you choose to live with intention, the idea that this is your journey and not simply a means to a desired end, EVERYTHING gets more interesting (I think!). If you see the bad market as simply happening to you/your business - in a way, you are a victim (living an unintentional life). Riding the ambiguity wave can be incredibly empowering. I’m glad you were at ULI to be an example…
http://www.amazon.com/What-Matters-Most-Living-Considered/dp/B002BWQ57M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259615040&sr=8-2