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Navigating Ambiguity: Creating Opportunity in a World of Unknowns
A thought-provoking guide to help you lean in to the discomfort of the unknown to turn creative opportunities into intentional design, from Stanford University's world-renowned d.school.
“ Navigating Ambiguity reminds us not to run from uncertainty but rather see it as a defining moment of opportunity.”—Yves Béhar, Founder and CEO, fuseproject
A design process presents a series of steps, but in real life, it rarely plays out this neatly. Navigating Ambiguity underscores how the creative process isn’t formulaic. This book shows you how to surrender control by being adaptable, curious, and unbiased as well as resourceful, tenacious, and courageous.
Designers and educators Andrea Small and Kelly Schmutte use humor and clear steps to help you embrace uncertainty as you approach a creative project. First, they explain how the brain works and why it defaults to certainty. Then they show you how to let go of the need for control and instead employ a flexible strategy that relies on the balance between acting and adapting, and the give-and-take between opposing approaches to make your way to your goal.
Beautiful cut-paper artwork illustrations offer ways to rethink creative work without hitting the usual roadblocks. The result is a more open and satisfying journey from assignment or idea to finished product.
“ Navigating Ambiguity reminds us not to run from uncertainty but rather see it as a defining moment of opportunity.”—Yves Béhar, Founder and CEO, fuseproject
A design process presents a series of steps, but in real life, it rarely plays out this neatly. Navigating Ambiguity underscores how the creative process isn’t formulaic. This book shows you how to surrender control by being adaptable, curious, and unbiased as well as resourceful, tenacious, and courageous.
Designers and educators Andrea Small and Kelly Schmutte use humor and clear steps to help you embrace uncertainty as you approach a creative project. First, they explain how the brain works and why it defaults to certainty. Then they show you how to let go of the need for control and instead employ a flexible strategy that relies on the balance between acting and adapting, and the give-and-take between opposing approaches to make your way to your goal.
Beautiful cut-paper artwork illustrations offer ways to rethink creative work without hitting the usual roadblocks. The result is a more open and satisfying journey from assignment or idea to finished product.
144 pages, Paperback
Published April 19, 2022
37 people are currently reading
271 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
March 9, 2022
Dreamy, mystical advice primarily for designers but useful for anyone working in a field where options are open and creativity can be a curse when there are no constraints. The art was loose and opaque and hard to really understand, which is fitting given the theme. Almost a dreamy advice book, if that makes sense? It was the dreaminess that ultimately put me off; for me the book would have been better with a few more concrete examples.
**Thanks to the authors, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
**Thanks to the authors, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
August 17, 2024
We watched an interview with Andrea Small in our office meeting last week, and now we’re reading the book and discussing. For a marketing and communications team, this book has a lot of great points for refocusing and thinking through together. Our team often talks about stepping into chaos and igniting shalom, and this book works right along with that, while also helping us question what it is that we’re aiming for when we seek shalom in our work with all our clients.
The authors suggest a difference between ambiguity and uncertainty. In uncertainty, we know there must be an answer, and so we either try to find it or wait for it to reveal itself. But in ambiguity, “there’s no singular, correct answer” (22). Facing ambiguity, we respond with one of three attitudes: endure (wait for the ambiguity to end), engage (face it head-on, but like a thrill-seeker, just for a limited time before returning to “normal”), or embrace (viewing ambiguity as a tool to draw on at any time).
(Though the book focuses on the usefulness of embracing ambiguity, it also acknowledges the possibility of unhealthy ambiguity, such as when politicians make use of fear to motivate people toward certain decisions, or when a bad boss deliberately obscures in order to maintain power over his workers. That’s not the kind of ambiguity the authors celebrate here.)
As we consider healthy ambiguity, we find two axes that influence our ability to embrace it: acting (taking purposeful initiative) and adapting (flexing to changing conditions). “The more you can act and adapt (individually or as a team), the greater your ability to face the unknown with confidence” (59). Having finished the book, this is the point that I continue to think about, and I believe it may prove very useful for our team.
The last part of the book explains five sets of dynamic continua, tools to help determine the best response to ambiguity in a particular situation (because, ambiguity being as it is, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with it).
The book itself is, as one would expect of a book from a prestigious design school, very, very designed. Its cleverness almost makes it more of a gift book than a book to ponder and study. At first, I was put off by the tone, which is much more web-like than book-like. After a while, I got over that and found the good points in amongst the sometimes distracting visual cleverness. Just know that if you have interest in the topic of ambiguity in creative work and you order this book, you may find it almost gimmicky and less substantial than you expected (I read it easily in one sitting). Stick with it, and you’ll enjoy the good thinking along the way.
The authors suggest a difference between ambiguity and uncertainty. In uncertainty, we know there must be an answer, and so we either try to find it or wait for it to reveal itself. But in ambiguity, “there’s no singular, correct answer” (22). Facing ambiguity, we respond with one of three attitudes: endure (wait for the ambiguity to end), engage (face it head-on, but like a thrill-seeker, just for a limited time before returning to “normal”), or embrace (viewing ambiguity as a tool to draw on at any time).
(Though the book focuses on the usefulness of embracing ambiguity, it also acknowledges the possibility of unhealthy ambiguity, such as when politicians make use of fear to motivate people toward certain decisions, or when a bad boss deliberately obscures in order to maintain power over his workers. That’s not the kind of ambiguity the authors celebrate here.)
As we consider healthy ambiguity, we find two axes that influence our ability to embrace it: acting (taking purposeful initiative) and adapting (flexing to changing conditions). “The more you can act and adapt (individually or as a team), the greater your ability to face the unknown with confidence” (59). Having finished the book, this is the point that I continue to think about, and I believe it may prove very useful for our team.
The last part of the book explains five sets of dynamic continua, tools to help determine the best response to ambiguity in a particular situation (because, ambiguity being as it is, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with it).
Look in | Look outThe distinctions between each of the balances sometimes seem blurry, but taken all together, I think they will become helpful.
Speed up | Slow down
Focus | Unfocus
Follow the course | Create your own path
Zoom in | Zoom out
The book itself is, as one would expect of a book from a prestigious design school, very, very designed. Its cleverness almost makes it more of a gift book than a book to ponder and study. At first, I was put off by the tone, which is much more web-like than book-like. After a while, I got over that and found the good points in amongst the sometimes distracting visual cleverness. Just know that if you have interest in the topic of ambiguity in creative work and you order this book, you may find it almost gimmicky and less substantial than you expected (I read it easily in one sitting). Stick with it, and you’ll enjoy the good thinking along the way.
August 3, 2024
Do you ever find a book that perfectly resonates with your life as it exists in a certain moment? This short read was the missing puzzle piece to a challenging week. Recommended for anybody who might be currently feeling a little lost or overwhelmed.
January 16, 2022
I got a digital copy of this book via Netgalley. With the current circumstances that we are experiencing around us, I think this book couldn't have had a better timing. The book talks about a designer's perspective of navigating the ambiguity all around us and does a brilliant job at that.
What I really liked is that the book is to the point and crisp, making it a quick read. The book also speaks about the importance of balance between opposing forces in order to navigate through ambiguity.
This book is a great companion and reminder for all leaders who are tasked with leading their teams through the current ambiguous environment.
What I really liked is that the book is to the point and crisp, making it a quick read. The book also speaks about the importance of balance between opposing forces in order to navigate through ambiguity.
This book is a great companion and reminder for all leaders who are tasked with leading their teams through the current ambiguous environment.
March 10, 2024
A few months ago I bought the complete set of Stanford d.school guides, and I am slowly working my way through them. The first one that I read on prototyping was excellent. The second one on designing social change was a disappointment, but now I'm back on track and loving the series again with my third one, which is about using ambiguity in the design process.
It's so human and natural to want a clear goal and then to push toward it with laser-like precision. Of course, even where your method is laser focus, you may have to clear away a few cobwebs to get a view of the target, but this book explains how that basic methodology is flawed. You are more likely to be creative and innovative if you are able to hold more than one idea in your mind at once, if you are open to not knowing, if part of the plan is to stumble around in the dark feeling your way for a bit before you lock down on a final plan. I think that I mostly do this, but it's too easy when I think I see the way to immediately assume that I am right and that I can discard all of the possibilities that didn't intuitively seem best to me. Sure, there are lots of situations where brainstorming and considering unlikely choices is just a time-wasting distraction, but even the smartest of us sometimes miss hidden gems or cut off viable alternatives when we decide too quickly. Beyond the basic idea of embracing ambiguity, the book goes on to provide tools for using ambiguity in the design process to actively move toward smarter results.
One thing that is hinted at in the book but that I wanted more of was a consideration of situations where ambiguities are never resolved, where ambiguity becomes a part of the solution. This is risky and there are certainly times when absolute or near absolute certainty is needed in the final result. I don't want a car that has ambiguous results when I put my foot on the brake. But there are other cases where embodying ambiguity in the final product can open up possibilities for surprise and delight, for continuing creativity and for flexibility in a system that needs to last and change over time.
It's so human and natural to want a clear goal and then to push toward it with laser-like precision. Of course, even where your method is laser focus, you may have to clear away a few cobwebs to get a view of the target, but this book explains how that basic methodology is flawed. You are more likely to be creative and innovative if you are able to hold more than one idea in your mind at once, if you are open to not knowing, if part of the plan is to stumble around in the dark feeling your way for a bit before you lock down on a final plan. I think that I mostly do this, but it's too easy when I think I see the way to immediately assume that I am right and that I can discard all of the possibilities that didn't intuitively seem best to me. Sure, there are lots of situations where brainstorming and considering unlikely choices is just a time-wasting distraction, but even the smartest of us sometimes miss hidden gems or cut off viable alternatives when we decide too quickly. Beyond the basic idea of embracing ambiguity, the book goes on to provide tools for using ambiguity in the design process to actively move toward smarter results.
One thing that is hinted at in the book but that I wanted more of was a consideration of situations where ambiguities are never resolved, where ambiguity becomes a part of the solution. This is risky and there are certainly times when absolute or near absolute certainty is needed in the final result. I don't want a car that has ambiguous results when I put my foot on the brake. But there are other cases where embodying ambiguity in the final product can open up possibilities for surprise and delight, for continuing creativity and for flexibility in a system that needs to last and change over time.
February 15, 2024
I picked this one up because I am currently going through a time of professional uncertainty and ambiguity and struggling a bit. This slim little guide talks about ambiguity as an opportunity, a time when there are lots of possibilities before you're locked into one. They also share some tips on the journey from being a person who endures ambiguity to one who embraces it. Some of the more concrete things include some dualities of approaches and when to adopt each: when to slow down and when to speed up, when to zoom in and when to zoom out, etc. There are several checklists for each scenario that I found helpful - though I think they are maybe more applicable to ambiguities surrounding projects or design or when you have a little more control over the outcome than my present circumstances. Overall, it did help in refocusing my mindset around ambiguity in the moment, though I'm not sure how much of it was the book or that I happened to read it during a retreat where I also got to spend a lot of time journaling and reflecting and time spent in nature and meditation. Still, one I might come back to from time to time.
May 19, 2023
Designers today — especially those working in tech — need to be proficient in both quantitative and qualitative approaches to design. In tech, there is a lot of literature on how to apply the scientific method to design and innovation. It is useful, but I find that being inundated with science-driven approaches to design can lead to a state of losing touch with the emotional and experiential aspects of being a designer.
So, I appreciate when a book like Navigating Ambiguity comes out and reminds me of the poetic and creative side of design. It tells me that it is ok to take breaks because our minds are continuing to synthesize input. It also tells me that rewards of work can come years after I was seeking them.
This book sits at the intersection of how-to, design, and life philosophy.
I’ll reach for it again when I’m looking to reify, or put a finger on what’s going on when I’m wading through ambiguity.
So, I appreciate when a book like Navigating Ambiguity comes out and reminds me of the poetic and creative side of design. It tells me that it is ok to take breaks because our minds are continuing to synthesize input. It also tells me that rewards of work can come years after I was seeking them.
This book sits at the intersection of how-to, design, and life philosophy.
I’ll reach for it again when I’m looking to reify, or put a finger on what’s going on when I’m wading through ambiguity.
April 22, 2022
Navigating Ambiguity is an attempt by a group of artists to share their perspectives on how we can thrive when we don't have a full picture of what is in front of us or what to do next in our lives and endeavours. This is a book that tries to help manage life uncertainties and ambiguities by teaching us the right kind of mindsets to adopt and how to adopt them.
WHAT I LIKE IN THIS BOOK
This is a book by designers and it shows. The graphic designs enhance the understanding of the subject matter. It makes reading the book easier and fun to navigate. More importantly, this is a book with lots of real-life examples of ambiguities and how to live with them.
DISLIKES
None.
WHO IS IT FOR
This is a self-help book by designers for everyone. These are professionals with something to say about life and their experiences are worth listening to by every adult grappling with the unknown.
WHAT I LIKE IN THIS BOOK
This is a book by designers and it shows. The graphic designs enhance the understanding of the subject matter. It makes reading the book easier and fun to navigate. More importantly, this is a book with lots of real-life examples of ambiguities and how to live with them.
DISLIKES
None.
WHO IS IT FOR
This is a self-help book by designers for everyone. These are professionals with something to say about life and their experiences are worth listening to by every adult grappling with the unknown.
September 23, 2022
Still learning post my @stanfordgsb executive leadership sessions. “Creating opportunity in a world of unknowns,” is totally necessary because the world in which we find ourselves is flooded with them! One of the quotes I often say personally is “find the box, and erase it.” Design thinking is intriguing to me for this reason…”navigating ambiguity,” being comfortable being uncomfortable, charting new paths, building, designing, allow newness! I loved how this book is put together and breaks down its concepts!
Here are some quotes that I enjoyed: "Charting new routes can break the boundaries of human achievement and allow us to experience things never seen or felt by other people." "We see things differently when we shift our focus, in more ways than one." "Cognitive diversity is essential in reaching breakthrough ideas."
Here are some quotes that I enjoyed: "Charting new routes can break the boundaries of human achievement and allow us to experience things never seen or felt by other people." "We see things differently when we shift our focus, in more ways than one." "Cognitive diversity is essential in reaching breakthrough ideas."
December 1, 2024
A solid book from the Stanford D school which I read on the plane ride from Nashville to Chicago.
I liked the visuals, quotes, and practical advice. My fave part of the book was the Zoom out/in section. It will send me to learn more about the Eames’ Powers of Ten, the overview effect, and the orbital perspective.
This book is most useful for those who are new to design thinking or leadership. It’s possibly too basic for those who are experienced.
What would I recommend improving for next time? Add a few more stories. They will make the content more memorable.
I liked the visuals, quotes, and practical advice. My fave part of the book was the Zoom out/in section. It will send me to learn more about the Eames’ Powers of Ten, the overview effect, and the orbital perspective.
This book is most useful for those who are new to design thinking or leadership. It’s possibly too basic for those who are experienced.
What would I recommend improving for next time? Add a few more stories. They will make the content more memorable.
November 30, 2024
I enjoy this d.school series. This one does a nice job of simplifying how to get through all those "what if" questions that can hold you back in the creative process. I think it can translate to in any difficult time when things are uncertain and you're not sure which direction to take and how to assess what is most important. Nice layout, simple graphics and lots of headers and bullets to make it easy to read.
April 24, 2025
Great book to help define ambiguity especially in the time we currently find ourselves. You don't have to be a Design major as the content in this book can be applied to any situation, anywhere, and with anyone. Do yourself a solid and read this book. True story, I finished reading this great book while sitting in a Doctor's Office waiting room and boy did I wait. However, I left today's appointment with a completely different perspective.
June 30, 2025
The advice is clear, vivid, and succinct. A pleasure to read as I navigate my own ambiguous life journey and research. The book brings to life why thinking like a designer is useful for anyone struggling with being proactive in any context. It also provides useful language and examples for any action learning curriculum. I wanted the book to be longer and really flesh out the advice, but it's great as is as a kind of 'pocket reference' book.
August 26, 2022
No book about design ever pleases all designers, but this one does a great job presenting several frameworks around how to think about ambiguity or any unclear design (or life) problem. The tone is witty and familiar, a bit like you are learning from a favorite professor. Beautiful illustrations.
Will be gifting to the design managers on my team.
Will be gifting to the design managers on my team.
August 28, 2023
I like that this book gives solid tools for navigating the unknown. It’s all about balance. Balance your perspective, balance your pace, balance your attention, balance your process and balance your scale…
And most important — see ambiguity as a welcome adventure rather than something to be avoided.
Helpful little reference tool. Well written.
And most important — see ambiguity as a welcome adventure rather than something to be avoided.
Helpful little reference tool. Well written.
July 17, 2022
too general? but maybe try again later - not long
October 28, 2022
boring
Gawd. Ambiguous to the point of nonsensical ramblings. I would have been better off buying a crystal.
Really did NOT enjoy.
Gawd. Ambiguous to the point of nonsensical ramblings. I would have been better off buying a crystal.
Really did NOT enjoy.
February 12, 2023
This book is essential to buy, keep, and refer to for the rest of your graphic design career, trust me!
The Unglitch
www.unglitch.io
The Unglitch
www.unglitch.io
February 25, 2023
Good content. Struggling to figure out how to actually use it.
July 1, 2023
I feel inspired!
November 23, 2023
It's so abstract.
May 8, 2024
A lot of helpful insights
May 12, 2025
This is a great reference and a wonderful go-to if you are feeling stuck! Easy and delightful to read.
October 18, 2025
Not exactly deep, but a meditative reflection on ambiguity nonetheless.
June 26, 2023
Another Dr. Patrick Akos recommendation! A cool peak into the world of graphic design, with an overlying message of, ‘it’s okay to be uncertain!!’ which I really needed at this point in my life!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews