Managing (and Welcoming) Uncertainty in Organizational Systems

Barry Oshry talks about uncertainty in individuals and organizations in Act IV of his book, Seeing Systems. He helps us realize how uncertainty can be a gift to the system. Here, he posits that the "dance of blind reflex" between tops, middles and bottoms in a system is an instinctual reaction to alleviate the stress of and anxiety of each group’s vulnerabilities and the unknown .

In order to challenge the system and create the best learning for all of its parts, we need to proactively make space for uncertainty. Solutions that lead to the quickest way to a fix problem are often polarized and absolve the system of the responsibility to practice divergent thinking and develop solutions collaboratively. Not having solutions on hand will probably feel intolerable and our groups will act to resist. Oshry refers to resistance to uncertainty as “the old dance shaking” and yet, the in the presence of uncertainty, possibilities emerge.

In my previous organization we had the totally unremarkable and yet highly stressful challenge of dealing with a scarcity of resources. My role included running spending reports, analyzing information, raising flags with our program director, and setting up budgets for our annual grant cycle. There was always some uncertainty about what would happen over the course of the year and  in the dance of blind reflex, I clung to top space with this problem, always working toward a solution before revealing that trouble was brewing.

One year in particular, I could see that we had far too few grant dollars to pay for incoming requests for funding. In order to continue to operate as a grantmaking entity through the year, I knew that some or all parts of our process needed to change.  In the face of the question, “How are we going to make it through the year?,” I still felt compelled personally to come up with the answer before raising a flag. In the dance of blind reflex, the uncertainty of not having an answer kept me up at night and made it harder to share the gravity of the problem with the team as our financial position worsened. I thought, “How could I let this happen? Why can’t I figure this out?”

To reach real potential solutions, I had to personally let go of the question and allow the gravity of the uncertainty into our department. In so doing, we discovered that there were many more possibilities out there to address the challenge, most of which could be applied in tandem. I had felt I had to defend my top space because I had the information and was aware of the problem. In practicing flexibility, I gave up all my information and my self-perceived responsibility to fix the problem (and my identity as a problem-solver). I allowed others in the department to work to own the issue and for my supervisor to hold the issue more closely, which she was grateful for and which ultimately supported her in her leadership as well.