“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.”
– John Allen Paulos, American Math Professor, Temple University
“Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don’t let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity.”
– R. I. Fitzhenry
All in The Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show are two of the most successful television series of all time. (Yes, you youngsters, there were great shows even before….well….before whatever it is you watch these days…). Almost everyone in the industry was certain they’d bomb. Family was too edgy, and insiders were just certain that no one would accept a TV show about a working woman. They were certain.
So much for certainty, and so much for the effect of over-analysis on instinctive action. Fred Silverman, the head of programming for CBS looked at all the analysis, too. But he went back to his first instincts. He launched the shows. He wasn’t certain about the shows, but he was certain about what his instincts told him about the shows.
How often do we trust our instincts? How often, when we don’t, do we look back and realize we shoulda, woulda, coulda?
When we’re not sure, when mystery overpowers familiarity — trust our instincts. Keeping boredom at bay and sparking creativity seem worthwhile pursuits for the difference maker!
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