Building a portfolio of personal real options

We live in an age where uncertainty lurks around every corner, but what if uncertainty didn’t have to be an anxiety-inducing, uncomfortable part of life? 

The Upside of Uncertainty: A Guide to Finding Possibility in the Unknown, by INSEAD professor Nathan Furr and entrepreneur Susannah Harmon Furr, presents strategies and tools to embrace uncertainty and turn it into opportunity. 

Nathan, Susannah, and Greg discuss why humans are naturally wired to avoid the unknown, and how our capacity to face it can be strengthened through learnable tools. The conversation covers some of the strategies described in the book like creating “islands of certainty” through rituals and support systems, maintaining a portfolio of personal options instead of going all-in too early, and focusing on what’s within one’s control while pursuing other meaningful goals, internally. 

*unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

The golden space of uncertainty

26:59: [Nathan Furr] The American can-do attitude is it was this kind of illusion that we control the world. And most people who have been through something hard recognize it is not totally in our control. We sure we influence it, we nudge it, but a lot of things are outside our control. And so the people who are able to approach uncertainty with greater calm also kind of said, you know, what is in my control? I will focus on that, and what is outside of my control, or partially outside of my control, I am not going to obsess about that. And so there is this kind of golden space where you are focused on what are my internal goals, being the best, doing my best, making a contribution in the world. And I recognize that, there is some element of, in this complex, ambiguous world that I do not control, and so I am just going to focus on the things I can control and let the other pieces go. That leads to a much calmer view of the world. The video and audio are not synched

On being comfortable with uncertainty

11:42: [Susannah Furr]: All of us could have cooler and more brilliant lives if we just tried a little bit more, if we got a little bit more comfortable with uncertainty. It is good to know, like, Ooh, I do not like risks. And we have a tool for that. Like, know what risks you have affinities and aversions for, but definitely do not just decide, Nope, I do not do uncertainty, because you are, you are missing out.

The real danger isn’t risk

18:29: [Nathan Furr] The real danger is not that you are going to go all in on the uncertain thing, it is that you are probably going all in on the certain thing, and you are not bringing that thing you care about, that thing you dream about, into the portfolio of options in your life.

Show Links:

Recommended Resources:

• Ben Feringa 
• World Uncertainty Index 
• Sam Yagan 
• Martin Seligman 
• Kathleen M. Eisenhardt
• Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

Guest Profile:

• Nathan Furr Faculty Profile at INSEAD
• Nathan Furr on LinkedIn
• Susannah Harmon Furr Profile at INSEAD
• Susannah Harmon Furr on LinkedIn
• The Uncertainty Possibility School

Guests’ Work:

• The Upside of Uncertainty: A Guide to Finding Possibility in the Unknown
• The Innovator's Method: Bringing the Lean Start-up into Your Organization
• Leading Transformation: How to Take Charge of Your Company's Future
• Innovation Capital: How to Compete--and Win--Like the World’s Most Innovative Leaders

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