To Be or Not To Be Ambiguous

“Tolerate ambiguity, resolve ambiguity, and create ambiguity.”

I loved the way Tim O'Reilly expressed this reality that every person and organization faces in their quest to accomplish their mission.

In ministry I've observed that tolerating ambiguity proves to be the most challenging for me. It's easy for me to create ambiguity by suggesting new ideas or by questioning the current reality, but to move forward in the mission and towards one another WITH a significant level of ambiguity present requires a highly capable and mature person/team/organization.

Here's the context of that quote from a blog post by Edie Freedman, an employee of O'Reilly:

"Many years ago, O’Reilly Media founder and CEO Tim O'Reilly wrote a memo to the company’s managers about our role. One of things he wanted was for managers to “tolerate ambiguity, resolve ambiguity, and create ambiguity.” We all laughed when we read it, but in many ways it has been a key element in the continued success of the company. As the company has matured, we’ve managed to strike a manageable balance between encouraging a certain amount of ambiguity even as we continually strive for something that passes for clarity. It is not always easy to make the necessary choices."

In a postmodern world with all of its segmentation, relativism, confusion, and mystery a philosophy such as this must be engaged. Otherwise a person/company/org risks having clearly defined goals and tactics but little passion, drive, or inspiration for the leaders to lead.

Which of the three resonates most with your leadership style or personality? Tolerate, Resolve, or Create? How has that expressed itself in your current role?