Episode 19: Making it Weird & Embracing Ambiguity
About the episode…
We are returning to podcasting after a brief hiatus while Lucy was in India. Today we'll be talking about how to learn to appreciate everyday awkward and ambiguous situations.
This episode explores how slowing down and becoming comfortable with discomfort is important for fostering positive relationships and creating inclusion. By embracing what we don’t know, we can orient ourselves towards growth, leaning into curiosity and cultural humility. The team also shares examples of how they dealt with ambiguity, giving concrete tips on what we all can do at the time and move forward. Listen to the full episode to learn what they are.
The team also has workshops on how leaders can navigate ambiguity in their teams, contact us to learn more!
Links to Mentions & References:
- Cote, Catherine. “How to Build Psychological Safety in the Workplace | HBS Online.” Harvard Business School Blog, May 20, 2025. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/psychological-safety-in-the-workplace.
- González-Aller, Ángeles. “How to Connect through Cultural Discomfort.” How to Connect Through Cultural Discomfort | Whitworth Today Magazine | Whitworth University, 2024. https://www.whitworth.edu/cms/our-stories/magazine/how-to-connect-through-cultural-discomfort/index.htm.
- Kazubowski-Houston, Magdalena. 2018. “An Elephant in the Room: Tracking an Awkward Anthropology”. Anthropologica 60 (2):413-26. https://doi.org/10.3138/anth.2017-0005.
- Kowal Smith, Ann. “Why Dealing with Ambiguity Is the Skill We Desperately Need.” Forbes.com, June 18, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/annkowalsmith/2024/06/18/why-dealing-with-ambiguity-is-the-skill-we-desperately-need/.
- Lewis, Richard. “How Different Cultures Understand Time.” Culturally Modified, January 29, 2020. https://culturallymodified.org/how-different-cultures-understand-time-best-of/.
- Lindenbaum, Shirley. Women of Value, Men of Renown: New Perspectives in Trobriand Exchange, by Annette B. Weiner. American Ethnologist 4, no. 4 (1977): 799–801. http://www.jstor.org/stable/643638.
- Orroth, Max, Arielle Gordon, and Jillian Litke. “Languaged Life.” Languaged Life, March 16, 2024. https://languagedlife.ucla.edu/sociolinguistics/this-is-our-linguistics-projectlol/.
- Public Health & Equity Resource Navigator. “Cultural Humility and Competence.” PHERN, 2026. https://phern.communitycommons.org/cc_resource/cultural-competence-and-humility/.
- Simmel, Georg, and Ramona Mosse. “The Stranger.” The Baffler, no. 30 (2016): 176–79. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43959216.
- Smith, C. Syl’violet. “When Black Excellence Isn’t Enough.” Harpers Bazaar, February 22, 2022. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a39173867/when-black-excellence-isnt-enough/
- Suti, Rudina. “Are You Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes in the Workplace?” Saïd Business School, January 29, 2021. https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/oxford-experience/blogs/rudina-suti/are-you-reinforcing-gender-stereotypes-workplace.
- Wharton. “Can Awkward Conversations Make for a Stronger Corporate Culture?” Knowledge at Wharton, June 8, 2018. https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/can-awkward-conversations-make-stronger-corporate-culture/.
