The two unteachable skills for momentum in ambiguity: an ability to see nuance and an optimistic curiosity
[aot].
Momentum through ambiguity allows you to differentiate from others.
An ability to see nuance means that you know the world is not single dimensional and black and white, but multidimensional and shades of gray.
If you find something surprising, that implies there is a dimension or gradation you don't yet sense.
But realizing there is something you don't yet see is the first step to seeing it.
Optimistic curiosity is that when you find disconfirming evidence, instead of interpreting it as a threat, you see it as an opportunity, a way to gain more momentum through increased clarity.
Surprise should feel like potential momentum, not a setback or an excuse to become more cynical or disappointed.
Optimistic curiosity is what lets you go faster when you find disconfirming evidence.
The two skills together: understand and simplify.
You need both to be able to sense the wisdom to be able to absorb it, and you need to want to absorb it.
Without either skill, you will get stuck immediately in the mud of the ambiguity.
With only the optimistic curiosity, you will get momentum without absorbing the nuance, and you will speed yourself off a cliff.
With only the ability to see nuance, the more nuance you sense, the slower you will go, getting stuck in the jungle.
These two skills are unteachable. You either have them or you don't.
If you don't have them, the only way to gain them is to be reborn with them.