“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is”
―John Allen Paulos
At the moment I'm working with two clients who are both in the middle of a substantial organisational transformation. I can see their excitement and anticipation about the impending easier and more productive ways of working to come, but also the fatigue and apprehension that imminent change can create.
It led to an interesting conversation between some executives I am working with about why this year in particular feels so exhausting.
I think the answer lies in the pace of change we’ve gone through over the past 18 months.
Our workplaces have embarked upon the biggest digital transformation in many years, quickly transforming how many of us work. Living rooms were turned into home offices, and organisations that had previously resisted the uptake of remote work were forced to provide employees with the tools to work offsite.
The anxieties and uncertainties that rapid shift in work patters created has been layered on top of our changes at home. Everyone’s worries may be slightly different – anything from home schooling children, rapidly making and unmaking family holiday plans, learning a new world of pandemic-related medical terminology, or worrying about the security of work or access to basic household supplies – but they rattle us in noticeable ways.
Our neighbourhoods have changed too – pleasant things like more people walking in the park, but also sad things like shopping centres emptying and favourite cafes closing down.
Moving into 2021, and anticipating a smoother and less disruptive year, we instead face more changes – the scarcity of vaccinations, more frequent snap lockdowns, and the danger of new viral variants. It’s exactly the pattern that we foreshadowed in our new year post – What the first six months of 2021 will look like.
Given the 18 months of major change in our homes and workplaces, it's no wonder we feel so exhausted. Prolonged stress and unrelenting disruption is exhausting.
The human brain is conditioned to crave certainty. It looks for patterns and rhythms that keep it safely in its comfort zone, protecting us from risk. When we face change on many fronts – at home, work, and in our neighbourhoods – the brain naturally feels fatigued.
It is tiring looking for certainty in an uncertain world.
So what are managers to do? We have no choice but to accept that we work in times of great uncertainty. Resistance seems futile. We crave order and certainty, but at the moment it is beyond us. Annoyingly, we don’t even know for how long things will be uncertain!
Perhaps instead, we might move our attention to things like:
Focus on what you can control – fix solvable things and try to let go of things outside your control
Remember that uncertainty can also bring happy outcomes, not only sad ones
Find things to celebrate in the uncertain world – spontaneous gatherings and surprise connections
Resist trying to create certainty through unproductive behaviours like micromanagement
Resist procrastinating too long on routine things – uncertainty can breed indecision, but it is important to move ahead with things in a calm and managed way
Reduce your exposure to negative triggers – such as doomscrolling social media – and instead prioritise self-care, by focussing on positive activities like exercise, meditation, or connecting with others
The brain in seeking certainty is just doing its job in trying to keep us in a safe space. The exhaustion that it breeds is both normal and predictable.
Let’s not be too hard on ourselves as we navigate the times ahead.
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