At first glance, uncertainty and innovation may seem to be on different ends of the spectrum.

One definition of uncertainty is a situation in which something is not known or something that is not clear. Innovation is defined as, the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. In business, it’s the “carrying out of new combinations” that include “the introduction of new, goods, new methods of production, the opening of new markets”.

While it can be disquieting to accept new ideas, unsettling to delve into unfamiliar areas, and stressful to explore different places, we must.  We all have experienced uncertainty at some point in our life’s journey.  It’s a human emotion, we can’t escape.  Nevertheless, I submit to you that uncertainty embodies both negative attributes and great benefits.

In times of uncertainty, it’s tempting to hide and withdraw. To create a sense of safety, we are more apt to revert to familiar feelings.  Inevitably, this causes us to be overly cautious and to retreat to harmful emotional habits.  It is paramount to placing our heads in the sand. However, if we choose this path, it comes with costly consequences.  There is a price to pay if we decide to deal with uncertainty as a menacing foe and only see it as a negative attribute.  Inquiring minds may ask, what are the negative attributes of uncertainty, so I can better identify them?

Negative Attributes of Uncertainty

• Doubt has a way of rearing its ugly head when you find yourself in situations that are unfamiliar.  It is relentless and self-feeding.  Denying that you are experiencing doubt, will not serve you well.  Promoting an atmosphere of dread and anxiety, it fans the flames of your insecurities.
• Indecision can disguise itself as a concern, when actually it’s polluting your thinking, and contaminating new thoughts.  While prudence should be applauded, indecisiveness is detrimental to innovation.  Rather than fueling imagination and action, indecision stimulates hesitancy and causes you to waver.  When you should be taking action, you are immobile and waiting for something to happen.
• Worry heightens your fears and magnifies past apprehensions.  Worry is a master destroyer of confidence.  It grips your emotions and nurtures irrational thoughts causing erratic behavior.  It drains your energy and could very well impact your health, negatively.  Worry has no redeeming value because it is counterproductive to plans that are designed to move you forward.
• Pessimism causes you to become inflexible, and inpatient, and has been known to lead to bouts with depression.  This insidious attribute and all its sinister characteristics should be avoided like the plague.  Pessimism breeds doom, gloom, and cynicism.  If left unattended, it will ultimately move to a stage of hopelessness.
• Complaining is never a good look and should not become your “go-to” in response to uncertainty.  Complaining causes, you to be critical at every turn, and the first to find fault.  Most of all, you adopt a combative stance that includes grumbling and whining. 

With so many negative attributes, it’s easy to understand why some, might find it difficult to grasp how uncertainty could ever spark innovation.  I’m the first to admit that, sometimes, despite our best efforts, we permit uncertainty to have an adverse effect on our daily decisions. We soon find ourselves becoming distracted and not operating at peak performance.  Therefore, we must not allow this to become our norm. We have choices available to us, as well as ways to do better.  There are great advantages hidden in uncertainty, waiting for discovery. This leads us to how it can be used to spark innovation.

“Life isn’t meant to be lived perfectly…but merely to be LIVED. Boldly, wildly, beautifully, uncertainly, imperfectly, magically LIVED.” ― Mandy Hale

Benefiting Qualities of Uncertainty

Inherent in uncertainty are elements to foster change and innovation. Understandably, it may feel a little strange, and a bit awkward at first, but you should embrace uncertainty as a prequel to creativity. It places you in an optimal position to succeed.  The idiom that you must learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, has never been truer. The uncomfortableness can propel you to take action, changing your personal trajectory from stagnation and immobility to progress.  A kindred spirit with curiosity, uncertainty can be used to fuel inventiveness serving to energize creativity.  With this redirected mindset, you can now proclaim that creativity and uncertainty are interrelated.  

Using Uncertainty to Fuel Innovation

Sometimes, not knowing the answer to a question or not immediately having a solution to a problem, ignites curiosity, leading to a journey of wonder and inquisitiveness.  This is an opportunity for you to examine whether you want to remain in a state of disorientation or to commit to self-education. I’m challenging you to become self-aware by placing a premium on truth by consciously knowing and accepting your feelings; to use occasions of uncertainty to equip yourself with information and steps that will move you beyond your discomfort. Having such a plan, ensures that your response to uneasiness will trigger emotions that inspire resourcefulness.  With this new view of uncertainty, imagination and creativity will not only have room to become fertile but also to live and thrive. 

It is becoming more difficult to judge whether the abundance of information being shared today, is sage advice or simply someone’s opinion, but that is no reason to categorically discount it.  You should do just the opposite. Allowing your skepticism to spur interest, is the first step to developing a pathway to your success.  Your actions will push you to investigate, evaluate and possibly innovate. Each step is creating an atmosphere for discovery.  Embrace your uncertainty as a benefit positioning you to find the answer to a question, issue, or concern enabling you to unearth alternatives, new paths, or options.    

Adaptability is one response to uncertainty which leads to innovation.  Moving forward, uncertainty should not be viewed as a barrier, rather it should be welcomed as an opportunity for unconventional thinking to flourish.  Of course, doubt will attempt to creep in and constantly vie for your attention. However, developing a mindset that leans toward a solution when faced with uncertainty, increases the probability that you will choose innovation as a more productive choice.

It’s important to understand that uncertainty and innovation both come with risks.  Living in an unending state of ambiguity, doubt, or insecurity, has negative consequences and places your future at risk.  Alternatively, while innovation embodies exploration and creativity, it does not guarantee success, so many may view it as risky, also.  On the other hand, it’s almost counterintuitive to think of exploration from a lens of guarantee. 

“There is no innovation and creativity without failure.” Period.” —Brené Brown

Because there cannot be sustainable growth without innovation, the benefits outweigh the risks.  We are not talking about risks for the sake of taking risks but using innovation as a response to uncertainty with the goal of improvement, inventions, new products, and services. This type of innovation offers opportunities accompanied by advantages for you and society.

The next time you find yourself anxious, uncertain, or in a state of questioning, acknowledge your feelings and redirect those emotions to a mindset of solutions, creativity, and innovation.  Focus on the plan you’ve prepared to guide your success pathway and if you don’t have a plan, it’s time to create one. Train yourself to take immediate action when uncertainty starts to feel like a problem or an annoyance.  Gaining the ability to do this one act, will allow you to arrest the negative connotation of uncertainty and to replace it with a more positive overtone.  This is not just positive thinking, but rather positive actions you will take to induce a different way of processing information and your emotions.  These actions will produce intentional, beneficial outcomes. 

I admit, change is difficult, especially changing entrenched behaviors, but it’s not impossible and it is definitely worth it.  We all know the adage “practice makes perfect”, but we now know, a truer saying is “perfect practice makes perfect”.  There is no better time than NOW to let uncertainty spark innovation as a part of your life’s plan for achievement and accomplishment.  Why not start with the “perfect practice” of choosing innovation as a response to uncertainty?