S5 | E6 - Finding agency without all the answers with Sam Conniff

How do we find room to act when everything seems to be changing at once? 

Act Two of this series opens with Sam Conniff, author of Be More Pirate and co-founder of Uncertainty Experts, to explore our relationship with uncertainty and what it means for the decisions we make at work.

Sam describes a revealing question from his research: would you rather look decisive if it led to a bad outcome, or tolerate looking indecisive if it led to a good one? The responses open up a conversation about the expectations organisations create, the discomfort of not knowing, and what we recognise as strong leadership.

From there, Chris and Sam explore the different ways people describe the uncertainties ahead of them, including what they believe they can influence. AI brings these questions into everyday working life: how can the same technology look like an opportunity to one person and a threat to another?

The conversation leaves room for optimism, connection and a little productive procrastination. It also raises a question that carries through this next act: how might getting more comfortable with uncertainty help us find a greater sense of agency?

Learn more: We discuss

• Why uncertainty is an emotional experience as well as a planning problem.
• The pressure to look decisive and the behaviours organisations reward.
• How people describe the systems around them and what they can influence.
• Different responses to AI, and the space for human judgement alongside it.
• Connection, optimism and the possibility of productive procrastination.

Learn more: Explore further

• Uncertainty Experts: https://www.uncertaintyexperts.com/about
• The Decisiveness Crisis report: https://www.uncertaintyexperts.com/decisiveness-crisis-report
• The Economist, “The quality you should most wish for your children”, 27 August 2026: https://www.economist.com/business/2026/08/27/the-quality-you-should-most-wish-for-your-children

Promo or the RTO L@S report.

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🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles