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Navigating Uncertainty

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Almost exactly five years ago, in early March 2020, I drew a cartoon that captured some of how I felt in that moment of uncertainty. It showed a group of of people in a meeting and one holding up a coin:

“We need to update the forecast. Heads, this will blow over soon. Tails, it’s the end of the world.”

In the 20+ years I’ve been drawing this cartoon, it has felt at times like a personal diary. I most found that true in the uncertainty spikes of 2008 and 2020. Every moment of uncertainty is different, but one byproduct of drawing a long-running cartoon is the reminder of the adage: this too shall pass.

That doesn’t mean that uncertainty passes — just that particularly situation or moment of uncertainty. The IMF created a metric called the World Uncertainty Index (WUI), which has tracked the climate of uncertainty from 2008 to today. The only constant has been constant spikes and an upward trend line.

Which means that navigating uncertainty is a perennial part of the job. And an opportunity for leaders and businesses to provide calm in the chaos.

In the uncertainty of 2020, I found some helpful insights in a 2016 Brexit article by Kevin Chesters and Simin Radmanesh:

“With government sending only messages of confusion, brands can aid people in finding stability…

“Be a beacon of certainty within the world of the uncertain…

“Healthy, strong brands prosper during times of uncertainty – that was proven in 2008 and the recession of the 90s …

“The worst thing to do in a time of chaos is add to it.”

New Cartoon Collaboration

This is the sixth of seven cartoons from a new collaboration with Confluence by Atlassian on how their product helps set knowledge free.

Navigating a project in the right direction is a lot more difficult when we’re not all looking at the same map.

Cartoon From The Archives

And here’s the cartoon I mentioned that I drew in 2020:

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Thank you for all of your support (and cartoon material)!

-Tom

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About Marketoonist

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of me, Tom Fishburne. I first started drawing cartoons as a student in the Harvard Business School newspaper (not quite as well-known for humor as the Lampoon) and later started this newsletter from a General Mills cubicle in 2002. The cartoons have followed my career ever since. I poke fun at the ever-changing world of marketing and business because I believe that laughing at ourselves can help us do our best work.