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 Introducing the Guild's First Book
"UNCERTAINTY"

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THE CLARIFYING POWER OF A GLOBAL GUILD  

UNCERTAINTY : Making Sense of the World for Better, Bolder Outcomes

In a first-of-its kind collaboration between Grey Swan Guild and Cygnus Sprints, we light up paths and solutions for leaders navigating these times of unparalleled uncertainty.

Tools for Today's and Tomorrow's Intelligence, Decision & Action: 
Cygnus Sprints provides the authoritative guide for making sense of the Great Uncertainty. Forget the academic explanations or veiled agendas, let's get after fixing our crafts, professions and the world. Leaders wanted.

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All The Whys, Hows, Whats & Whens of Dealing With a Complex, Sped Up  World 

 

A Global Pandemic. A Tidal Shift in Values. Fundamental Shifts in How We Work. A Fragile Economy. Industry Disruption at Every Turn. A Fickle Customer. Exponential Technologies. A Hunger for New Paradigms. Progress Unchecked. Limitless Options & Choice. Mental Health on High Alert. It's enough to frazzle our brains, hearts & souls...

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... But Uncertainty Doesn't have to Bring Us to Our Knees.

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NAVIGATING

UNCERTAINTY

There is no magic antidote or cure for uncertainty. In many ways, like the game of golf, we never get to master uncertainty but we can embrace it and even enjoy it. Read 40+ perspectives on how we can alchemize uncertainty into opportunity.

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REAL

SOLUTIONS

The literary temptation is to keep swimming and ranting about unfortunate tidal waves of uncertainty. That might make us feel good for an hour, a day or a week. Instead, we have asked each of our authors to come up with solutions and frameworks to confront uncertainty & make us better at our professions.

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GLOBAL

EXPERTS

We've gathered a distributed worldwide network of seasoned experts from many different disciplines to tackle the challenge of uncertainty. Although they have many different perspectives, they  hold in common our shared values of aspiration, curiosity, collaboration and purpose of building better craft, professions & world. 

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POWERED BY

THE SWANS

When encountering shifting landscapes and troubling waters ahead, better to traverse it with friends than go it alone. This is the first publication to our knowledge published by a Guild (Grey Swan Guild) and its spinout on-demand consultancy and advisory group (Cygnus Sprints).. Welcome to our Swanhood! . Join us for this migration and future ones.,

Join our Movement - Become a Navigator of Uncertainty, Author of Wild Cards of Uncertainty and/or Expert Uncertainty Weathervane Panelist

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Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty can be absurd.. Pay heed to the collective of people - Futures Thinkers, Sensemakers, Leaders, Strategists, Technologists, Researchers, Change Agents and Market Makers - who have grappled with uncertainty over the last year. Become part of our troop.

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Our goal is to provide THE playbook and movement for these times of Uncertainty with:

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Better intelligence

Bolder outcomes.

Fresher perspectives.

Smarter paths.

Unlocking challenges.

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And the conversation continues....

 

We would love your ongoing collaboration and support on a number of fronts by becoming a "Navigator of Uncertainty":

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  • Author article(s) for our Uncertainty Wild Cards post-launch

  • Become a guest on our Uncertainty podcast/webcast

  • Provide input to our ongoing Uncertainty research

  • Furnish a book review or testimonials

  • Join us or add to our book tour 

  • Hire or join our Cygnus Sprints advisors and consultants for your most vexing challenges

  • Matchmake our authors/thought leaders for keynotes and executive briefings 

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“Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.”

-  Karl Von Clausewitz

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Wild Cards of Uncertainty
Uncertanty Weathervane

UNCERTAINTY : THE BOOK:  STRENGTHS & DISTINCTIONS:

Not just an academic think piece, nine reasons why Uncertainty is a gold mine of unlocking indecision and getting to solutions. 

UNCERTAINTY - ELEVEN+ CHAPTERS OF PROGRESS

Let's get over pretending to know best. Uncertainty provides a powerful scaffolding for leadership in an era of unresolved pasts, up-in-the-air presents and unknown futures.

CH. 5
SENSEMAKING
CHAPTER

breathe, step back, look at the world that is, and reframe the real challenge

CH. 6
STRATEGY
CHAPTER

 an unlimited number of monkeys, given sufficient time, will eventually produce the best decision, but we don't have time

CH. 7
INNOVATION CHAPTER

not innovating is the single largest reason for the decline of organizations and the planet, but can we win it back?

CH. 8 
DISCOVERY
CHAPTER

look beyond  the veil of the superficial to true potential and boundaries of interdisciplinary collaboration & insight

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CH. 9
TRANSFORMATION
CHAPTER

change is constant, frustattion is the gap between what just shifted and what we are doing about it, let;'s bridge it

EPLILOGUE
What'S NEXt, UNCERTAinty?

what does our very human pursuit and motivation to the boulder of Uncertainty reveal about us and the next frontiers 


THE
EXTRAS

Cygnus Sprints on demand-consultancy, Uncertainty the podcast, Radar Collection, Weathervanes, Marquee Events, and more

MEET OUR GUILDMASTERS OF UNCERTAINTY:

40+ practitioners and authors of our group of principals and advisors from around the world.

Gordon Withrow

Gordon Withrow

Uncertainty Executive Producer & Project Leader

Transformation Editor

 

Digital Transformation’s 2 Key Levers: Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence

 

Sensemaking Competency for Leaders - what’s your sensemaking quotient?

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Aaron Mikulsky

Editorial Board / Strategy Editor / Commercialization Director

 

 Strategy in a World of Change, Uncertainty, and Shared Value

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Angi English

Editorial Board/ Sensemaking Editor/ Creative Director

 

Be Like Water, Sensemaking for Uncertainty

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Olga Howard

Editorial Board/Scanning Editor

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Editorial Counsel, Development Editing and Scanning Editor

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Sean Moffitt 

Uncertainty Project Executive Sponsor/Discovery & Marketplace Editor

 

The Corporate Pivot: Business Models Beyond the Startup and Amidst the Uncertainty

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Augmented Brands: 21st Century Uncertainty Tesseracts and FLIRTing with the Marketplace

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 The Customer Zeitgeist:  The Slot Machine for Marketplace Bets over the Next Decade

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The Compass & Compendium:  A Rosetta Stone for Making Sense of The World

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AI & Innovation - A Periodic Table

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Louise Mowbray

Editorial Board/

Leadership & Transformation Editor

 

Future-Focused Leadership - Vital Lenses for 21st-Century Leaders

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Change + Transition = Transformation: A Very Human Approach​

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Debbie Dimoff

Editorial Board/ Innovation & Leadership Editor

 

Light the innovation fireworks. Illuminate certainty for ourselves, our teams, and our organizations 

 

Guild Leadership - mixing individual power with group vision for certainty alchemy

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Nathan Gilliatt 

Editorial Board/

Technology Editor

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Uncertainty Publishing Go-To-Market Development 

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Bruce Merlo 

Uncertainty Asset Collection & Research

Paula Papel - Cygnus Publishing

Paula Papel

Development, Production & Full Book Editing

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Deepshikha Yadav

Core Playbook Team/Intro & Conclusion Optimization & Uncertainty Wildcard Contributor

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Mindset Shifts: Creating transformation on an embodied level

Besir Wrayet Cygnus Publishing

Besir Wrayet

Uncertainty Asset Collection & Research and Scanning Editor

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Emma Withrow

Uncertainty Brand Director, Lead Designer, Typesetter & Publishing Development Team

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Dennis Sherwood

Leadership Contributor

 

Showing Creativity in Leadership - change your mind    

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Sonja Blignault

Leadership & Sensemaking Contributor

 

Cultivating Complexity Fit Leadership

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Wayfinding Complexity - Navigating Uncharted Territory

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Graham Norris

Leadership Contributor

 

The Anticipatory Attitude Framework: Overcoming Your Allergic Response to Uncertainty    

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Farid Mheir

Technology Contributor

 

Start with HOW: Using the Technology Innovation Circle to Reduce Digital Uncertainty

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Sharena Rice

Uncertainty Wild Card  Contributor

 

Relational Situational Matters of Fit

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Kheeran Dharmawardena

Technology Contributor

 

Social architecture for the hyper-connected world 

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Asha Singh

Marketplace Contributor

 

Learning through Doing: Experiment Broadly and Turn Creative Learning into Value

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Jacqui D'Eon

Marketplace Contributor

 

Stuff Happens – It’s a Gift: Values + Preparation = Creating Value from Uncertainty

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Gina Clifford

Scanning Contributor

 

Why the C-Suite Needs Design Fiction

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David Kalisz

Scanning Contributor

 

Beyond Scenarios: The limits of uncertainty and vectors of imagination of a blurred world 

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Charles Johnston

Scanning Contributor

 

Creative Systems Theory’s Concept of Cultural Maturity

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Steven Lichty

Scanning Contributor

 

A Safari Systems Map for Engaging with Africa’s Youth Bulge: A Trauma-Informed Futures Approach to Reconciling the Past, Reengaging the Present, and Reimaging the Future for Marginalized Youth

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Slobodan Maletic

Sensemaking Contributor

 

Mastering the Art of Concept Integration: Relational thinking interplay between form and meaning

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Chuck Metz Jr.

Sensemaking Contributor

 

Hunter-Gatherer Sensemaking in a Super-CAFFEINATED Digital World 

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Jonathan Knowles

Strategy Contributor 

 

Strategy in a World of Change, Uncertainty, and Shared Value

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Whynde Kuehn

Strategy and Uncertainty Wild Card Contributor

 

Strategy in a World of Change, Uncertainty, and Shared Value

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Strategy to Reality: Move big ideas into action in a cohesive, effective, and timely manner

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Anne Gorgy

Innovation Contributor

 

Futures Design Process: The Infinite Game of Business:

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Doyle Buehler

Discovery Contributor

 

How Do We Balance Uncertainty? : Surpassing Uncertainty by Harnessing the Certainty Fulcrum with Balance Theory

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Akash Das

Discovery Contributor

 

Navigating Chaos and Uncertainty towards Transformative Foresight: Living in the Throes of Permachaos

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Oshawn Jefferson

Discovery Contributor

 

To Research, Grow or Think: The Proof is the A.I.M.

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Rick Gill

Discovery Contributor

 

Your intelligence problem is like a 1000-piece puzzle….:An Intelligence Problem Team/Syndicate Ice-Breake

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Bud Taylor

Transformation Contributor

 

Organizational Transformation: Four Forces To Calm Uncertainty What Leaders Need To Know

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Al Comeaux

Transformation Contributor

 

The Power of Pull

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Alexandra Brown

Transformation Contributor

 

How Getting it Wrong Turned out Alright

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Chat GPT

Innovation Contributor

 

Artificial Intelligence and the Human Mind

Rike Pätzold

Rike Pätzold

Uncertainty Wildcard Contributor

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Uncertainty is Much Better than Its Reputation

Eva Tomas Casado

Eva Tomas Casado

Uncertainty Wildcard Contributor

 

Illuminating the Path to Uncertain
Possibilities: Looking into the space of possibilities with the futures-

telescope

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Cijaye DePradine

Uncertainty Wildcard Contributor

 

Team Trust in Times of Uncertainty.

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Paula Ylisassi

Uncertainty Wildcard Contributor

 

Develop a Future-Proof Business Asset: 6 Meta Skills to Foster Organic Innovation in Organisations.

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Adam Karaoguz

Uncertainty Wildcard Contributor

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Coyne's Story Grid and Boyd's OODA
Synthesizing the Synthesizers while listening to Synthwave

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Pablo Reyes

Uncertainty Wildcard Contributor

 

Uncertain and cultural evolution: How cultural evolution show how to deal with uncertain contexts

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Hannelie Venucia

Uncertainty Wildcard Contributor

 

And then...the day everything changed...Are you Ready?

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Midjourney

AI Image Generator

 

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Navigators of Uncertainty

Ambassadors, Supporters, Reviewers, Sponsors, Clients

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Join our front row of supporters, influencers, actors, catalysts and champions.

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Wildcard Contributors

Contribute a post-book article on Uncertainty

 

Join our league of excellent practitioners, observers, sensemakers, futurists and leaders

UNCERTAINTY - THE BOOK
A TRIUMPH OF GLOBAL COLLABORATION
50+ CONTRIBUTIONS DEEP
(see them all listed in the slide show below)

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lead anchor
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Anchor 4
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