A lot of the behavioral sciences can feel intimidating. However, it doesn't have to be. The Five Rules Podcast Series is our attempt at giving you an easy entry point into the complex and messy world of Behavioral Science.

As if the world isn't crazy enough—with the war in Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis, the looming threat of recession, and the ostensible beginnings of catastrophic climate change— we learned a flesh-eating bacterium (Vibrio vulnificus) is running rampant in Florida, infecting people as it thrives in the brackish floodwaters left in the wake of Hurricane Ian.

It's bloody stressful these days.

With so many things we can't control, feeling uncertain about the future economy is normal. However, uncertainty is a difficult environment in which to move forward with business.

Colin thought maybe he was feeling so pessimistic about everything because he is getting old. So, he polled his followers on LinkedIn a few days ago to see what they thought. He asked them,"What are you expecting the business environment will be over the next year?" The results might surprise you.

However, no matter how we all feel about the future, into it we go anyway. So, in an effort to help us all cope with the road ahead, we present the 5 Rules for Managing Uncertainty in this episode, which you can also watch on our YouTube Channel.

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

Uncertainty is a difficult environment for decision making. Often, we look for ways to mitigate these feelings using short-cuts in decision making to move forward. It's also why we like to say a decision was a no-brainer. If the best way forward was so obvious that we didn't have to think about it much, we have much more certainty about it. Certainty is definitely our preferred state when we decide things.

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 01:49 We start off by explaining the situation behind the poll and what Colin and Ryan think about the future. Spoiler alert: they don't agree.
• 05:35 We share some participant insights, first from René Bomholt and then from Andrew Safnauer, who tell us that it will be different in various parts of the world and that thinking about having a recession is the surest way to ensure there is one.
• 08:57 We share the first rule, to recognize that uncertainty will happen, and it will be uncomfortable.
• 15:07 We talk about the positives of uncertainty in rule number two, which is to remember that the upside of uncertainty is it provide opportunity, especially to disrupt things.
• 17:57 Colin shares why he likes to wear his Luton Town Football Club shirt—even though the team isn't as good as he wishes it was—and how an ex-manager was the inspiration for Rule #3, control the controllables.
• 22:27 We get into Rule #4, which is to be alert and prepared; because being flat footed and unprepared is never a winning response to uncertainty while having more information and a plan is.
• 24:25 We explain why the last rule, hoping for the best while planning for the worst, is an excellent way to cope with uncertainty, and why it can pay off for you no matter which way things go.

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Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 290,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for the last four years in a row. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University.

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 35,000 subscribers.

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.