Fears of those unknowns

When the established order begins to creak and dismantle, seemingly in front of our eyes, those fears of the unknown can kick in, especially if you have been used to managing in an established (slowly) evolving way for most, if not all, of your business life.

We seem confronted with rapid change, and it is primarily within the business world related to technology and market uncertainty that is driving this. We need to counter “fear” with a different approach, recognizing most of what we feel might be the ‘unknown’ is actually ‘known.’

We need to recognize our unknowns, search out others who might be experts in that point of not knowing and gain their help in piecing the parts that might be fragmented together to bring that need for recognition and clarity in our mind.

Fear can immobilize us.

In a recent exchange I had within one innovation community discussion, it was suggested that Innovation Business Ecosystems did not have the expected uptake because of this “fear of the unknowns”.

What initially prompted this was my post on making the business case for “Thinking about Innovation Ecosystems” Well, we need to address fear to get past this mental blockage of the “fear of those unknowns”.

So this short post is on tackling fear and dealing with the unknowns.

I would argue that far more of those unknowns are really knowns, often to others, than you might think. Our individual problem often lies in the time we have to discover, learn and explore new and different things. As well, and ask, are we really interested? We do need to ‘lean in’ on many specialists and experts to help us, not just business consultants!

We need to move beyond fear to invest in specialised thinking, open our minds up and seek out others who might offer expertise or insight that prompts and encourages a shift in thinking through their power of argument or insights.

What holds us back? It is fear of the unknowns. How can we move forward?

It is simply we have too many unknowns. That lack of investment in time and understanding to recognize the value and impact of opening up the thinking to different ideas, concepts or solutions. We need to find a better mechanism to manage our fears.

Let me provide some important points to consider in dealing with unknowns that have building blocks to reduce fear and reluctance to change.

NINE points of recognition to build into your thinking that can reduce fear:

1. Keep monitoring the industry and market trends, do ongoing market research and consistent risk analysis, and stay informed about changes and developments, however weak in initial signals.
2. Build relationships, network with industry leaders, and collaborate with industry experts and peers.
3. Stay flexible, agile and adaptable, and have up-to-date contingency plans in place to adjust course if needed and, in a controlled manner, options to existing business strategy.
4. Seek advice and support from a strong support network of mentors or peers that keeps you questioning and keeping you up to date. A dedicated coaching session or two can always help.
5. Develop a positive and proactive growth mindset and embrace failures as learning opportunities.
6. Break down the unknown into manageable parts of discovery, learning and translating, and experiment with new technologies in a controlled environment.
7. Gradually implement changes, test their impact, experiment, explore, and extract understanding.
8. Invest continually in training and education to stay ahead of the learning curve.
9. Try to identify and understand the source of fear and embrace uncertainty as a natural path of growth, personally and across the organization. Talk about this; empathy is all around us.

To counter fear and exposure, address so many of those unknown unknowns as many of them are actually known to others. You simply have not had the time or need to invest the time for understanding but others can be as supportive personally or in organizational settings that can translate their expertise into your understanding. A change manager or transformation advocate primary aim is to reduce fear but first, you have to recognize it.

For example, the early recognition that moving to any new business model, making changes, or significant process approaches means navigating uncertainty and managing risk. Change is all around us; the ground we once trusted is shifting under us, so we need to become far more aware and, in so doing, reduce those fears of the unknown. So who can help provide fresh thinking and different alternatives or prompt you to explore that area of (sudden) need or recognition as you address the unknowns?

Others can and will help- just ask. They can accelerate your learning, reduce your fears and bring the unknown in your present thinking into all the new opportunities in the new knowns that can be discovered.