Philosophers . . . .
I don’t know about you, but when these northern hemisphere days get shorter, and the sun is in short supply, I get a little bit more thoughtful.
I read a Voltaire quote this week.
Yep. That surprised me too. 😉
“Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.’
I find that quite liberating.
We all struggle with the many unknowns in our work (and in life more broadly!).
They are a fact of life.
And recognising this helps acceptance and stimulates our curiosity to understand more, from multiple perspectives.
It seems to me that the further the distance between ourselves and our objective, the more uncertainty is a central factor.
For example, the route to achieving an objective or goal to be met during the working day is usually fairly clear. It’s just a matter of time.
But the route to achieving your 3-year strategy outcomes is peppered with uncertainty.
Real value creation initiatives are filled with uncertainties.
- The specific GBS initiatives to support the 12 month growth & EBIT agenda of the overall business
- Your plan to deliver 15% productivity increase and associated cost-savings
- The goal to improve working capital by 20%
- Those commitments to decrease DSO and increase DPO by 10%
- Your target for “autonomous finance” wins with Agentic AI within 6 months
It is uncomfortable.
But there is room for optimism . . .
They essentially concluded that certainty and confidence in our opinions, plans, strategies and decisions reduces with experience and subject matter knowledge. Hence a genuine expert is less certain than a naïve optimist . . . .
Fortunately, evidence supports the idea that certainty is not a quality associated with successful leadership. 😉
We do know that qualities of curiosity, perseverance, self-awareness, empathy, communication, collaboration, influence, objectivity, courage, resilience, decisiveness, trust/integrity, strategic thinking and execution orientation are correlated with good leaders.
If Voltaire can help us on curiosity as a cure for certainty, what can some of the other great thinkers do for us?
So I had a look at the shelf of untouched (!) books in the office (I should read more . . .)
- Self-Awareness
- Sun Tzu – “Know your strengths and weaknesses: Recognize what you are good at and where you are lacking. This understanding allows you to avoid competing in areas where you are disadvantaged and instead focus on where your unique talents can be most effective.”
- Socrates – “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
- Perseverance
- Confucius – “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
- Integrity, Empathy & Collaboration
- Maya Angelou – “A leader sees greatness in other people. He nor she can be much of a leader if all she sees is herself.”
- Marcus Aurelius – “If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”
- Curiosity
- Albert Einsten – “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”
- Voltaire – “Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.’
- Objectivity
- Seneca – “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” Suspend dogma and examine the evidence.
- Strategic Thinking
- Sun Tzu – “Strategy Without Tactics is the Slowest Route to Victory. Tactics Without Strategy is the Noise Before Defeat”
- Execution & “Bias for Action”
- George Patton – “A good plan executed immediately is better than a perfect plan executed later.”
This might all seem a little abstract, but these great thinkers and philosophers had a point . . .
I suspect they all had a “real job” too . . .
If we can’t take 10 minutes to reflect on these ideas, maybe we need a break! 😉
It made me think.
But thats the darker nights for you . . 😉
Thanks for reading . . .
