As author Annie Duke explains in her book ‘Thinking in Bets’, we are constantly deciding among alternative futures.  We make choices all the time, from the moment we wake up.  With every decision, we are betting that the future version of us that results from the choices we make will be better off.  At stake in a decision is that the return to us (measured in money, time, happiness, health or whatever we value in our present circumstance) will be greater than what we are giving up by betting against the other potential alternative future versions of us.

If we can see the the world more accurately and better for it, we can find ways to become more comfortable with uncertainty and enhance our decision making abilities.   In order to get on this track, you need to assume that you are on a Perpetual State of Learning.  Think about the Scientific Method.  It only teaches us that Truth is only such when it can be proven via a repeatable experiment (or set of them). However, science progresses because it is assumed that Truth is only true until a better version becomes available. This is how scientific knowledge advances.  Why shouldn’t you apply the same principle to yourself, to your own life?

In ImaginAction, we hold this truth to be self-evident.  And this is the reason why we embrace Design Thinking, Lean Startup and Agile frameworks in our work.  You can’t have static knowledge, because it can become obsolete.  If obsolete knowledge guides your business (or your life, if you want to get philosophic), you are going to lose your bets.

With Design Thinking, Lean Startup and Agile, we see business challenges as opportunities to experiment.  With every experiment, we have a hypothesis.  We test options (and we like to think up a few options, not assume that there’d be just one viable answer);  when we are done testing, we evaluate results.  We inspect.  We learn. We adapt.  Or pivot, it depends on the findings.  We keep iterating.  We approach the creation of new products and services as an incremental process.

We continue to learn, inspect and adapt.  This is how we can become better, and build resilience into our businesses and our selves.