Years ago, a manager of mine told me I needed to learn how to work with ambiguity. It was terrible advice. Don’t get me wrong. Ambiguity is a constant in many work environments. And I’ve heard many other managers give similar advice to their reports that mine gave to me. But the message is poor; it implies that ambiguity is something you’ll just have to put up with. Now, I would give different advice. I would say: “You should have a high intolerance for ambiguity. And when you encounter it, you should do everything you can to eliminate it.” I don’t want to “deal” with ambiguity, any more than I want to “deal” with a weed in a garden. I want to get rid of it and take steps to ensure it doesn’t come back. That’s how you make progress.
It sounds like you do work with ambiguity, Dave—you transform it into surety! What are some ambiguity scenarios you've encountered that you'd feel comfortable sharing? An experience with ambiguity (of process and focus) I'm still learning about is when tackling cross-functional goals, I’ve found I slide into a useful role of helping others achieve their goals while also focusing on mine. The challenge for me is knowing when to invest time in supporting others’ needs, especially when those goals are only barely tangentially related to mine. It’s about balancing personal productivity with a broader business impact—acknowledging when helping others aligns with my goals, without becoming overly self-serving or giving too much of my time. That balance can be tricky.
For a tech writer, surely "Work with ambiguity" should mean, "Hunt it down and remove it wherever you can in the docs," not, "Learn to embrace it."
like you said..."ambiguity is a constant"...the sooner you can accept that fact, the easier it is to deal with it. The goal is then to learn how to "un-ambiguate" it as fast as possible so you can make progress....and stay sane! ^_^
Hmm, a short post. Maybe that is as clear as it gets? 😊
It was good advice for someone who just wanted to survive. Lousy advice for someone with integrity.
Well, yes and no. 🤣
Drive consistency. Create expectations.
Wise words, David. Thanks for sharing.
This is one of the areas that I've noticed the most change in my abilities and the way that I work, since joining Google 8 years ago. Now, I'll look for someone who can give me an answer in an area that seems ambiguous, but I don't wait overly long for a response. I seize the agency that we're given and make decisions on my own, when nobody else can or will. I agree that we should remove ambiguity where possible, but sometimes you just need to do an end run around it. :-)