10 things to learn in the age of uncertainty

In the Star Wars universe, both the Empire and the Rebellion want the same thing: peace and security. But they disagree fundamentally on how to handle uncertainty.

The Dark Side sees uncertainty as a bug—a factor of instability to be crushed. This is why authoritarians are obsessed with control. They want to eradicate different opinions and enforce absolute certainty. It creates a short-term peace, sure, but the price is terror and rigid compliance. There is no room for divergence.

The Light Side sees uncertainty as a cornerstone of freedom. To them, the unknown isn't something to be controlled; it’s something to be cherished because it is the source of creativity, adaptation, and life.

This isn’t just a fairytale. It’s the reality of leadership in 2026. A "command and control" approach creates brittle systems that shatter the moment they face disruption. And the more uncertainty you want to erase, the more oppressive you have to become. Both in a team, an organization, or a country. Human history provides abundant evidence for this.

But people and systems who learn to "dance" with uncertainty learn faster, survive longer, and attract others to join them. This is the law of nature! The ability to adapt enables survival and thriving.

Leadership is activating your own and others' agency in the face of uncertainty.

The more uncertainty you can meet with the agency, and the more people you can enable to do the same, the greater things you will be able to achieve.

Because the uncertainty and the pace of change are accelerating in the 21sr century, let’s talk about what you need to do to keep up 👇

The world is changing faster than ever—politics, technology, climate, markets, culture. The old model (“one person at the top has answers and gives orders”) doesn’t fit reality.

We need leaders who can dance with uncertainty—not deny it, not dominate it.

Here are the concrete capabilities that matter most right now:

Leadership is what you do, not what’s printed on your business card.

In uncertainty, just depending on a formal authority ( a rank) is not enough - we got to get creative and act!

To get there, you need to put your ability to handle the uncertainty at the center of your personal and leadership development. Individually and organizationally.

Most systems exist in two states: fragile (breaks under pressure) or resilient (bounces back unchanged). But there's a third state—anti-fragile. Anti-fragile people/systems don't just recover; they grow stronger through stress. Leadership in uncertainty means becoming anti-fragile—using disruption as fuel for growth. Build this through self-reflection, coaching, mentoring, community, and habits. Like a hydra: when you lose a head, you gain two more.

Ideology is comforting because it gives pre-made answers. Adaptive thinking is harder because it forces you to face complexity without shortcuts. Being adaptive doesn’t mean lacking values—it means being anchored in values, but not attached to one rigid solution. The future will keep producing problems you haven’t met yet. Leaders who can revise their approach without betraying their principles will outperform leaders who cling to ideological certainty just to feel safe.

In uncertainty, thinking is not enough. You can’t reason your way into clarity when the world is moving. You need feedback—and feedback comes from action. The goal isn’t reckless motion; it’s strategic movement that generates information quickly. Many people call it “analysis paralysis,” but often it’s fear of being wrong. Action breaks the spell. It turns anxiety into learning and turns learning into momentum.

Rigid top-down hierarchies are slow at sensing reality. Information gets filtered as it moves upward—sometimes to be “polite,” sometimes to avoid blame, sometimes to protect reputations. In a crisis, people at the top can end up with the least accurate picture. Network intelligence is the antidote. It means creating many sources of leadership across the system and elevating signals from the edges—frontline staff, customers, communities, younger colleagues—because that’s where reality hits first. The leader’s job becomes less “command” and more “connect, listen, develop, and activate.”

We don’t just live with misinformation. We live inside an endless stream of content designed to grab attention, trigger emotion, and keep you reactive. Without information hygiene, leaders become instruments of the news cycle, the algorithm, or the loudest voice in the room. The skill here is disciplined attention: distinguishing what is true from what is false, but also what is meaningful from what is distracting.

Trust is another antidote to uncertainty. It enables faster collaboration and keeps teams focused on the problem at hand instead of group dynamics and office politics—which often explode during high uncertainty and consume valuable resources. Learning how to build trust quickly, deeply, systematically, and with larger groups of people is an essential skill today.

More than any skills, what matters in high-uncertainty environments are the values you're ready to honor, what you're willing to sacrifice, and who you are becoming as a person. Your habits of mind and moral compass are your most useful tools for meeting uncertainty. Skills, tools, and data can change quickly—that's why your operating system (identity and values) is your core leadership advantage today.

Uncertainty drains mental energy. It increases decisions, emotional load, and ambiguity. Many people respond with tighter scheduling, but the real constraint is energy and attention. When depleted, you become reactive, impatient, and controlling. Energy management means protecting your capacity to think, listen, and decide well. Those who manage their nervous system and cognitive load stabilize everyone around them.

Linear thinking (A causes B) works for simple problems, but uncertainty lives in complex systems with multiple causes, delayed effects, and unintended consequences. Systems thinking means seeing patterns, feedback loops, and incentives. Use tripwires—clear signals showing when the system is shifting—to adapt in time. People who notice early signals and pivot responsibly lead others through disruption.

Look at the list of 10 areas above. Which one do you think you should focus on the most right now?

Pick one and reply to this email with it. I’ll read every response and send you additional resources specifically for the area you chose.

So that is what we will do in February and March - focus on each one of these to teach you how to meet the rising uncertainty with agency, so that you can become the leader for the 21st century, turn anxiety into opportunity, kick ass at work & home, and live life worth living ✊