I read this post “Living with Scientific Uncertainty” by Avi Loeb earlier today and was immediately able to relate to the argument that is put forward by him.
In the post, he argues that there is uncertainty all around us, and that doesn’t and shouldn’t stop us from living our lives. While at the same time, we cannot allow this uncertainty to control every aspect of our lives.
The impact that the uncertainty around corona virus on our lives is unprecedented in a way. All because we are not certain of when we are exposed to the virus and when we are safe.
Our reaction to this uncertainty is to either lock ourselves at home or go out and party with people who have already been infected with the virus. Both of these are extreme positions and may not necessarily be helping us in the long run.
We have seen a similar reaction to another uncertainty that we face which led to an extreme reaction – security at airports. There have been many accounts of how people have been mistreated at various airports by the security personnel.
We face a similar situation in business all the time. As leaders, we are always required to make decisions even when we don’t have all the information that we need. However, as in business, we usually make an informed decision based on the information available and reassess the situation at a regular interval.
Good decision-making units also make a note of the assumptions based on which they make decisions explicit and whenever there is more information that confirms or dispels the assumptions becomes available, they adjust the decisions accordingly.
We need to bring the same kind of rigor to our personal lives and the decisions that we make in our personal and public lives as well. When we do this, we will avoid attending a covid party knowingly and end up dead and at the same time can continue to live and work responsibly.
