Ambiguity

There is some confusion about the meaning of ambiguity. In business, people like to espouse the value of being comfortable with ‘ambiguity’ when what they actually mean is uncertainty, a space of not having all the information or knowledge but being able to move forward and take action regardless. Being able to identify and evaluate risk and making decisions with unknown variables.

To some extent uncertainty can be a state of ambiguity, when it could be one thing OR another, the data is not yet available or still inconclusive.  But ambiguity is also one thing AND the other, and it is here we often find far less comfort.

An Art teacher I know offers his students interesting provocations exploring ambiguity.  Sculpt a cross between a human and an animal, design a ‘shoe insect.’ He was bemoaning the fact that the first thing many students do when asked to research ideas is to get an AI generated image, completely bypassing the creative thinking process to jump into making and doing. There are perhaps a number of reasons for this and I daresay laziness is actually low on the list. Our education system rewards ‘right’ answers and punishes ‘wrong’ answers. Process is rarely valued and only in the same right/wrong dichotomy.

We have trained the students to find the right answer rather than be curious about ideas and consider alternatives and possibilities. They have a low tolerance of ambiguity or even uncertainty. In addition, our culture measures, celebrates and rewards productivity, outcomes not process. Indeed productivity is measured by a factor of time, which favours a minimum of processing for maximum results.  Results should always be clear, measurable, ‘SMART’ and certainly not ambiguous.

We receive messages constantly that discourage uncertainty and ambiguity so it is not great surprise that when given a task that is designed to celebrate ambiguity, students try to bypass that discomfort and use any means available to get the ‘right’ answer and produce an outcome rather than create a response.

However people with a high tolerance for ambiguity are more open to new ideas and possibilities and adaptable to change, are more creative problem solvers and show a higher level of emotional intelligence and resilience.  Skills we should surely be developing for future leaders.  Skills that are embedded in the practice of creativity.