Mi:Lab Principle 7: It’s okay not to know. Get comfortable with the ambiguity
Jumping to solutions too quickly means we miss out on more informed understanding, points-of-view and ideas
“We may not know what that answer is, but we know that we have to give ourselves permission to explore.”
Patrice Martin, Creative Director and Co-Lead, IDEO.org
As human beings, we seek out comfort, certainty and safety by looking for immediate solutions to our problems. However, this means we often miss out on more informed understandings, points-of-view and ideas.
During any creative process, we face moments of doubt, uncertainty and ambiguity, where the path ahead is unclear. This ambiguity enables us to explore unfamiliar spaces; it induces creativity by forcing us to go beyond our innate methods and practices. And whilst it can be challenging, seem counter-intuitive and uncomfortable to refrain from jumping to immediate solutions, navigating ambiguity is essential for both problem-finding and problem-solving. The uncomfortable space between ‘what is’ and ‘what could be’ is a space that should be embraced, not feared.
At the Stanford d.school, a Design Thinking institute based at Stanford University, educators are invited to compare ambiguity with Tom Senniger’s Learning Zone Theory. In this theory, Senniger states that throughout our learning experiences, we reside in either The Comfort Zone, The Learning Zone or The Panic Zone. The comfort zone is a safe space where things are familiar to us and we don’t have to take risks. In the learning zone, we must develop new skills to achieve our goal. However, these skills are often within reach. In contrast, the panic zone is an uncomfortable space where we are challenged to develop new skills and abilities that lead to feelings of unease and unrest.
“Take advantage of the ambiguity in the world. Look at something and think what else it might be”
Roger von Oech
Comfort with ambiguity is a vital, but often absent, capability in Higher Education. For hundreds of years the operating system of a typical University has remained relatively unchanged and predictable, meaning there has been little need to ever step into the unknown. We know this is no longer the case. The Covid-19 pandemic has jolted Higher Education Institutions into unknown waters who can no longer ignore the challenges ahead.
Mi:Lab Principle 7 in Action: Accepting Ambiguity
Ambiguity presents itself at several stages throughout the design process. Ambiguity also presents itself in our own lives — be it in our lives as educators or in our personal lives. In order to become more comfortable with ambiguity, it is important to understand and discuss how we handle it. This exercise is a simple one that can be conducted in a project team or individually.
Instructions:
Step 1: Individually, take a few minutes to recall a personal experience in which you encountered ambiguity. As we contextualise ambiguity in a personal sense, the more familiar we become in this space of uncertainty. We can learn a lot about our behaviours and relationship with ambiguity from our own past experiences.
Step 2: As we continue to analyse our past experiences with ambiguity, we ask you to metaphorically describe what ambiguity feels like to you. Spend a few minutes writing down your thoughts on a post-it note or white board.
Step 3: Finally, go around in a circle and discuss your thoughts and ideas with your team. This builds a sense of familiarity and near acceptance of ambiguity which will enable you and your team to reside more comfortably in this space.
