Matthew Leitch

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The simple idea behind Working In Uncertainty is that you will achieve more with less stress if you make changes to the way you work so that you understand and deal with uncertainty better. This applies to you as an individual and to any organization you are involved with.

The way to do it is simply to learn about the changes that work and try the ones that seem most promising for you or your organization. (That's why this website includes a lot of ideas for you to draw on and you can request more materials once you've registered an interest.)

If you have any responsibility for work on 'risk management' and/or 'internal control' then you should find Working In Uncertainty a simplifying, unifying view that meets expectations for both more easily.

A personal and business improvement programme

The reason that Working In Uncertainty can be so beneficial is that we face uncertainty just about all the time and we're not always very good at it[15]. We tend to think we are better at predicting and controlling the future than in fact we are. As a result, we undervalue actions like flexibility, getting more information, and taking precautions. This bias is institutionalised into some common management methods. Consequently, there is often huge scope for improving the way we work so that it performs better in conditions of uncertainty — which is what we face most of the time.

Here are some articles explaining more about how you and others in your organization can get more done with less stress by using ideas from Working In Uncertainty:

- A summary of Working In Uncertainty
- Illustrative improvements to ways of working - for an individual
- Illustrative improvements to ways of working - for an organization

A simpler view of 'risk management' and 'internal control'

As an approach to risk management and internal control programmes, Working In Uncertainty is simple and clear. In particular, it has the advantage of presenting clearly two of the most important ideas in modern risk management:

Open-mindedness: An aim of modern risk management is to get people thinking more widely about what might happen, not just to think of bad things that might happen[1]. But as soon as we say 'risk' people focus on just the nasty surprises, forgetting about potential opportunities and other nice surprises[2]. When we say 'uncertainty' instead, people immediately begin to think and behave differently.

Integration: Modern risk management and internal control also aim to be fully integrated into ways of working[1]. Just about everyone recognises what this looks like when they see it and prefers that approach. But when we say phrases like 'risk management process' and 'internal control system' this gets people thinking of a new, separate activity with new meetings, documents, and bureaucracy. Say 'working in uncertainty' and immediately it is easier to focus on the real task, which is to make incremental changes to existing core management activities (e.g. forecasting, objective setting, process design) and basic business processes (e.g. buying, selling, making things, providing service) that improve their performance under conditions of uncertainty.

I hope this taster has given you good reasons to evaluate this approach more rigorously. I've been working in the area of risk and control for many years — consulting, teaching, writing books, doing surveys, and getting involved with national and international standard setting — and I'm convinced that the small innovations in Working In Uncertainty will have a major impact for those who use them. Working In Uncertainty is simpler to understand and quickly links to practical common sense. The short articles linked below explain more about this and I hope you can make time to consider the material carefully and with an open mind.

- A summary of Working In Uncertainty
- Illustrative improvements to ways of working - for an organization
- Guidelines for Working In Uncertainty
- Impact of Working In Uncertainty