Developing Your SENSING Skill for Dealing with Uncertainty

Spotting patterns in your life or an organization’s decision-making relies on your sensing ability. In this short video, I describe how the Sentinelese people of south east Asia, detected the tsunami through signals and cues. These included: * fast and significant retreat of ocean waves, * cicadas stopped singing, * one small wave came before the big wave. There were other signals of course. Experienced surfers, SUP (stand up boarders) know how to read the wind, waves and layers of currents. The modern world is noisy and tends to drown out the perception of subtle signals that speak volumes about what is going on. * gain the capacity to recognize signals and cues and you gain the capacity to: * predict market shifts before they happen, * read the signals of a company going down, * detect whether the promises of an investment opportunity are shiny but destined to fail. * decide whether a company’s management is a fit for you. Navigating Uncertainty is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. There are more personal and professional benefits. I am reminded of a conversation with a surfer who was also a mortgage broker before the 2008 crash. In the same way he could sense the water was ‘sharky’ (and yes a shark was cruising beneath him), he could also detect the impending crash. He diversified and got out of the mortgage business so when it crashed months later, he emerged unscathed. These are times to dive deeper into skill sets that our ancestors and those close to nature rely on. Sensing as a way of seeing is invaluable for seeing ahead, making sound choices, and calming the nervous system. Sensing is one core skill that applies in all contexts in Dave Snowden’s Cynefin framework: simple, complicated, complex and chaotic. Rather than investing emotionally in what is being said, try sensing what lies beneath the surface to see the possibilities or motivations behind the rhetoric. It helps you avoid being manipulated or scared into doing something not in your best interest. A simple way to reduce stress is to suspend judgment and stay open to sensing what might emerge. For more reading: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Proba-1/Tsunami_leaves_tribal_island_high_in_the_water#:~:text=The%20islanders%20would%20typically%20have,well%20before%20the%20waves%20hit. Search on Perplexity.ai Dave Snowden’s Cynefin framework is explained here: Get full access to Navigating Uncertainty: Visionary Resilience at dawnajones.substack.com/subscribe