Have Some Ambiguity

Beth Spriggs' professional career began in information technology in 1999. As a certified PMP with over a decade of project management experience, she has combined her love for tech and project management by focusing her career on managing technology projects and portfolios. She is author of The Project Manager's Little Book of Cheats.

  Innovation   ProjectsAtWork  

Most project managers welcome clear-cut goals and processes. Likewise, they are uneasy around uncertainty, be it open-ended objectives or vague direction. But ambiguity can present an opportunity — to think creatively, to take a risk, perhaps, and try something new that just might lead to an exceptional outcome.

At somewhat predictable intervals my boss will tell me something like the following: I need you to get the entire organization to see how technology can enable and transform their work. It’s up to you to scale our work because we can’t do it without technology. You have to get everybody on board and walk them through a process because they won’t figure it out on their own. That’s your goal and I need you to make that happen.

I was just served a plate of ambiguity. The ask is so big and vague I have no idea where to begin or how to define an end, or any part in the middle. I sit with this ambiguous goal, feeling uncomfortable and anxious, and hoping a clear solution magically reveals itself.

I, in turn, have served up plates of ambiguity to my staff. I’ll give them a big goal with little to no instruction, no immediate guidance on timeline, resources, or how to accomplish it. For example, I recently told an employee that I wanted him to help lead our team in shifting our mindsets about how we think of our systems. Instead of three separate systems connected …

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