The LeanScaper Podcast How to Lead When Everything Feels Uncertain
Mar 10, 2026
Eric Termuende, author and speaker on modern leadership and adaptive teams, shares practical frameworks for navigating uncertainty. He discusses small-test “lily-pad” strategies instead of big bets. He explains fragility as the true risk and how to build trust and adaptability. He also reframes improvement as one-degree shifts and offers ways to reduce anxiety by focusing on what you can control.
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Probe New Tech With Small Experiments
- Test new technology with tiny experiments before committing large budgets.
- Eric recommends carrying a “bag of small rocks” metaphorically to toss pebbles onto lily pads to check viability before going all in.
Fragility Is The Real Risk
- Fragility — inability to adapt — is a bigger risk than any single technology like AI.
- Eric says empowering team members to lead innovation reduces organizational fragility and spreads adaptation capacity.
Choose One Degree Shifts Not Big Bets
- Favor frequent one-degree shifts over chasing 1% incremental improvement or big bets.
- Eric uses the lottery-buying couple and 'one degree' framing to show many small angle changes reveal paths forward without huge cost.
