At Cognota, we share a set of six core values that drive us forward every day. One of our values is Embrace Uncertainty. As our CEO, Ryan Austin, says: “Embracing uncertainty is one of the strongest skills to learn in business.”
So, what does Embrace Uncertainty mean to us? At Cognota, we aim high and think big. This means rolling up our sleeves, and not being afraid of pursuing a challenging goal.
In any given environment, there will be things that you cannot control. It’s a natural response for people to stress because our brains are hardwired to see uncertainty as a risk or threat when faced with unfamiliar situations.
How the Cognota Team Embraces Uncertainty
Open communication is key to managing ambiguity and being able to focus. Treating everyone as partners and making sure the team is well informed about uncertain situations has been our practice from day one. Not surprisingly, Breaking Down the Walls is another one of Cognota’s values!
Every two weeks we have company-wide Sprint & Tell meetings. Each department presents what they have been working on, celebrates what they have accomplished, discusses what they have learned and talks about what can be improved.
Once people have a better understanding of the changing environment, what others are working on and their experiences, it becomes easier to see the bigger picture and where they fit into it. This provides a more positive outlook, and decreases the worrisome feeling that can be paralyzing at times.
Viktor Frankl said: “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Instead of thinking about potential negative consequences or not moving forward because of the fear of going into unknown territories, keeping things in motion with a positive outlook and growth mindset brings us closer to our goals.
This year, we introduced a weekly No Meeting Day on Wednesdays. The purpose of this is to improve productivity and ensure everyone has time to focus on deep work. Our team values this quiet time to keep things in motion without distractions.
Through our day-to-day interactions, Sprint & Tells, Culture events and friendly competitions, we create opportunities for team members to build relationships and trust between each other, ensuring the entire team works well together towards a shared vision.
Rebecca McDougall, our VP of Customer Success, sums it up as follows: “I love the feeling that we’re building something special together. There is an energy and an excitement to the work that we do and the problems we’re solving for our customers. It’s a great team, aligned to the same vision and working each and every day towards that”.
Trusting the process, your team and yourself is critical so that ,even during uncertain times, you can focus on the things you can control, work hard, be persistent, be compassionate and believe you can accomplish everything.
In a work environment that embraces uncertainty, where people are trusted to contribute, think big and experiment without fear, employee engagement becomes second nature regardless of the circumstances.
If you want to be part of a team that embraces uncertainty and is making an impact through building the first and only LearnOps® platform, visit our Careers page and check out our open positions.
