When making decisions in a rapidly changing complex environment, book knowledge won’t get you far. After all, linear thinking; ‘If A then B’ simply does not apply. Predicting whether your decision will lead to the desired result is difficult.

Is it better to postpone your decision until you have a better understanding of the situation? No, because then you’d be wasting your chance to exert influence. Besides, you are probably being paid to take action. But how do you go about making decisions in a turbulent environment?

It actually starts with something very simple. Namely, recognizing that you don’t have all the answers in these types of situations. Be honest, how often do you hear yourself saying, “I don’t know”? If you already know everything, or think you know everything, it becomes a lot harder to be open to new insights. So, dare to be comfortable with not knowing!

Maybe it helps to realize that ‘not knowing’ paves the way for the crucial basic attitude of learning, learning and learning again! Of curiosity, of being allowed to discover how things work. The idea is very simple. If you are in a situation where your prediction is not cutting any ice, only direct experience will show you what works. And what does not. Action learning, in other words. That’s a continuous process of learning and reflecting, learning to reflect. And so on. By simply ‘doing’ you can influence and adjust in small steps. And with each step you learn more about your issue.