comfort with ambiguity

Some people are comfortable with ambiguity (and uncertainty). Others are not.

Twyla Tharp is one of those who is uncomfortable. I tend to think of myself as fairly comfortable.

When it’s written out like that - as if you either have it or you don’t - it’s easy to get the impression that the results are fixed.

I’m not so sure. I think that I learned to be comfortable with ambiguity. I’m not sure when it happened, but I do think it’s been an evolution.

I credit my early career a lot with this evolution. Working as a consultant, which seemed to explicitly recruit for “comfortable with ambiguity”, and then working for several managers who used “comfort with ambiguity” as a compliment, I set out to hone that skill.

I don’t know if I value it as highly as my former bosses, but I do think it’s an excellent example of what can happen if we recognize that we’re not fixed, but can grow. I’ve been thinking a lot about Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset recently and this feels right on theme.