The Upside of Uncertainty: A Guide to Finding Possibility in the Unknown

According to neuroscience studies, stories have a remarkable ability to change our thinking, for example by demonstrating how our minds literally sync with each other as we hear a story.

Living “as if” also turns out to be an important tool for innovators creating new industries.

Adjacent possibles also reveal themselves when we look thoughtfully at problems we face.

A frontier is really any boundary between where we feel comfortable and where we don’t. And there are an infinite number of frontiers available to each of us, because every aspect of our lives includes a comfort zone that we have taken as a given and that constricts the possibilities available to us.

“Parents teach their children to live their dreams by living their own dreams.”

Finally, adjacent possibles reveal themselves by questioning the status quo,

The most resilient people in the face of uncertainty—the ones who feel the least anxiety, the ones who are more likely to take the most worthwhile risks, the ones who get back on the horse when they get knocked off—adopt the perspective that the goal of life is internal and that the results are partly outside their control.

Adjacent possibles also reveal themselves when we question assumptions.

The Upside of Uncertainty offers a hopeful framework for making the leap across uncertainty even in the face of limitation and constraint. It’s filled with tools and personal applications based on interviews, research, and personal experience, all aimed at helping you start moving now.