When we present new ideas that are better or different to what currently exists they carry the weight of uncertainty. This is a problem we all face. What is uncertain is unappealing. And everything right now, everyone says, is uncertain. But just like there’s a flip side to everything the same applies to uncertainty.
See this exchange between Patch Adams and Arthur Mendelson from the Movie Patch Adams:
Arthur Mendelson: How many fingers do you see?
Hunter Patch Adams: Four.
Arthur Mendelson: No no! Look beyond the fingers! Now tell me how many you see.
Arthur Mendelson: You’re focusing on the problem. If you focus on the problem, you can’t see the solution. Never focus on the problem!
Arthur Mendelson: See what no one else sees. See what everyone chooses not to see… out of fear, conformity or laziness. See the whole world anew each day!
What Mendelson is saying is to not get too caught up in the problem and instead skip it. In our case, the problem everyone is focusing on is uncertainty. But what nobody tells you is that uncertainty has always been here, it’s like the oxygen we breathe everyday.
Instead what we should really focus on is on what is certain. WATCH the video below where renowned futurist and strategist Daniel Burrus explains his ‘problem skipping’ strategy. Worth mentioning is at the 4 minute mark when he recounts the story of a woman who told him she had a problem she couldn’t skip: terminal cancer. The woman is obsessed with dying soon and the fact of knowing she’ll die fills her thoughts. What can she do? To which he responds: Skip thinking about dying until you’re dead. Why don’t you start thinking about living until you die.
I encourage you to watch the whole talk:
Again, it’s all a matter of perception. Look beyond the obvious!
Bottom line is to ask yourself: In a world where there’s lots uncertainty, what are we certain about?