Drawing from hundreds of interviews, along with pioneering research in psychology, innovation, and behavioral economics, Nathan and Susannah provide dozens of tools—including mental models, techniques, and reflections—for seeing the upside of uncertainty, developing a vision for what to do next, and opening ourselves up to new possibilities.

Humans are wired to fear the unknown. That’s why uncertainty—whether at the macro level of a global economic, health, or geopolitical crisis or at the micro level (Will I get that job? Will this venture be successful? Am I on the right career path?)—can feel nerve-racking, exhausting, and even debilitating. However, that gut reaction leads people to miss a crucial fact: Uncertainty and possibility are two sides of the same coin.

Corporations often seek renewal through internal innovations that create new sources of revenue and help them enter new markets. But research and anecdote continue to show that corporations struggle to renew through innovation.

The resource-based view (RBV) explains the relationship between resources and firm performance, particularly in low uncertainty markets, and can be used to understand strategies for market entry and leveraging resources. However, in high uncertainty markets, a different approach called Strategy Creation (SC) is more relevant, which combines strategizing by doing, thinking, and shaping.