NAVIGATING AMBIGUITY
References and Other Sources
PART I. UNDERSTAND AMBIGUITY
FOUNDATIONS
Alice Boyes, The Anxiety Toolkit: Strategies for Fine-Tuning Your Mind and Moving Past Your Stuck Points (New York: TarcherPerigee, 2015).
Alice Boyes, The Healthy Mind Toolkit: Simple Strategies to Get Out of Your Own Way and Enjoy Your Life (New York: TarcherPerigee, 2018).
Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity (New York: Open Road Media, 2018).
William Empson, Seven Types of Ambiguity (New York: New Directions, 1966).
Estelle Frankel, The Wisdom of Not Knowing: Discovering a Life of Wonder by Embracing Uncertainty (Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 2017).
William W. Gaver, Jacob Beaver, and Steve Benford, “Ambiguity as a Resource for Design,”
CHI ’03: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Fort Lauderdale, FL (April 2003): 233–40, http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/642611.642653.
Anthony Ossa-Richardson, A History of Ambiguity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2019).
Meera Lee Patel, My Friend Fear: Finding Magic in the Unknown (New York: TarcherPerigee, 2018).
Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark, Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2016).
Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost (London: Penguin Books, 2006).
Jan Visser and Yusra Laila Visser, “Ambiguity, Cognition, Learning, Teaching, and Design,” TechTrends, 48 no. 1 (January 2004): 40–3, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225749517_Ambiguity_cognition_learning_teaching_and_design.
John Waters, Make Trouble (Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books, 2017).
Allen Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety, 2nd ed. (New York: Vintage Books, 2011).
Franck Zenasni, Maud Besançon, and Todd Lubart, “Creativity and Tolerance of Ambiguity: An Empirical Study,” The Journal of Creative Behavior 41, no. 1 (2008): 61–72, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2162-6057.2008.tb01080.x.
ENTER AMBIGUITY
Alice Kogan and Sandeep Pahuja, “4 Strategies to Chart a Path Forward When There Is No Map,” The IDEO Journal (blog), Ideo.com, April 22, 2020, https://www.ideo.com/journal/four-strategies-to-chart-a-path-forward-when-there-is-no-map.
Clara Moskowitz, “What’s 96 Percent of the Universe Made Of? Astronomers Don’t Know,” Space.com, May 12, 2011, https://www.space.com/11642-dark-matter-dark-energy-4-percent-universe-panek.html.
Suzanne Gibbs Howard, “David Kelley on the Design Abilities of Creative Problem Solvers,” February 5, 2019, in IDEO U Creative Confidence Podcast, produced by IDEO U, podcast, WAV audio, 42:46, https://open.spotify.com/episode/5k61DMmZg5d3VOAHRht3PQ?si=lPemutMERvuXXQJrLYFL0A&nd=1.
Patrice Martin, “Embrace Ambiguity,” DesignKit, IDEO.org, accessed April 13, 2022, https://www.designkit.org/mindsets/5.
Exploring Your Mind, “For a Good Life, Learn to How to Handle Uncertainty,” Exploring Your Mind[ML4] (blog), accessed April 13, 2022, https://exploringyourmind.com/learn-how-to-handle-uncertainty/amp/.
1. WHAT IS AMBIGUITY
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Hannah Jones, body of work, 2015–2016, Stanford d.school, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA.
Patrick Cook-Deegan and Chris Rudd, conversation with Hannah Jones, Nihir Shah, and Andrea Small, November 2015, Stanford d.school, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA.
J. Gordon Melton, ed., Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology, vol. 2, 5th ed. (Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2001).
2. BRAIN STUFF
Ethan S. Bromberg-Martin and Okihide Hikosaka, “Midbrain Dopamine Neurons Signal Preference for Advance Information about Upcoming Rewards,” Neuron 63, no. 1 (July 2009): 119–26, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2009.06.009.
Chadrick Lane, “The Chemistry of Information Addiction,” Scientific American, October 13, 2009, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-we-addicted-to-inform/.
Paul J. Whalen, “The Uncertainty of It All,” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 11, no. 12 (December 2007): 499–500, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2007.08.016.
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Marc Lewis, “Why We’re Hardwired to Hate Uncertainty,” Guardian (US edition), April 4, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/04/uncertainty-stressful-research-neuroscience.
Archy O. de Berker et al., “Computations of Uncertainty Mediate Acute Stress Responses in Humans,” Nature Communications 7, no. 10996 (March 2016), https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10996.
David Rock, “A Hunger for Certainty,” Psychology Today, October 25, 2009, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-brain-work/200910/hunger-certainty.
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UCL, “Uncertainty Can Cause More Stress than Inevitable Pain,” UCL News, March 29, 2016, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2016/mar/uncertainty-can-cause-more-stress-inevitable-pain.
Robert Burton, “The Certainty Bias: A Potentially Dangerous Mental Flaw,” Scientific American, October 9, 2008, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-certainty-bias/.
Robert Burton, On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You’re Not (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008).
Stephen Bochner, “Defining Intolerance of Ambiguity,” The Psychological Record 15 (1965): 393–400, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393605.
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3. ATTITUDES ABOUT AMBIGUITY
Kelly Schmutte, “Ambiguity Archetypes,” Library of Ambiguity, d.school Public Library, accessed April 13, 2022, https://dlibrary.stanford.edu/ambiguity-archetypes.
Kelly Schmutte, “Ambiguity Metaphor Exploration Worksheet,” Library of Ambiguity, d.school Public Library, May 2019, https://dlibrary.stanford.edu/ambiguity/ambiguity-metaphor-exploration-worksheet.
Andrea Smalls, Hannah Jones, and Nihir Shah, “Practicing Ambiguity,” The Design Muscles, Stanford d.school, Stanford University, http://www.thedesignmuscles.com/ambiguity.
Patrick Cook-Deegan and Chris Rudd, conversation with Hannah Jones, Nihir Shah, and Andrea Small, November 2015, Stanford d.school, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA.
PART II. NAVIGATE AMBIGUITY
5. NAVIGATION TOOLS
Kelly Schmutte, “Polynesian Voyaging Society,” Library of Ambiguity, d.school Public Library, June 2019, https://dlibrary.stanford.edu/ambiguity/polynesian-voyaging-society.
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Eve Eschner Hogan, “Spot the Fine Line between Trust and Control,” Psych Central, July 16, 2017, https://psychcentral.com/blog/spot-the-fine-line-between-trust-and-control#1.
Marshall Stern and Nancy Howland Walker, “Trust, Confidence and Control,” November 27, 2008, in Zenprov, produced by Chicago Improv Associates, podcast, MP3 audio, 32:46, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/28-zenprov-trust-confidence-and-control/id250433192?i=1000046069719.
Cristiano Castelfranchi and Rino Falcone, “Trust and Control: A Dialectic Link,” Applied Artificial Intelligence 14, no. 8 (September 2000): 799–823, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08839510050127560.
Ben R. Finney, Voyage of Rediscovery: A Cultural Odyssey through Polynesia (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994).
Christopher J. Wells, “A Brief History of Navigational Instruments,” Technologyuk.net, June 30, 2016, https://www.technologyuk.net/special-features/navigational-instruments.shtml.
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David A. Kolb and Kay Peterson, “Tailor Your Coaching to People’s Learning Styles,” HBR Guide to Coaching Your Employees (HBR Guide Series) (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Review, 2014).
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6. LOOK IN | LOOK OUT
Vignesh Ramachandran, “Knight Prototype Fund Winner Expunge.io Inspires Change in Illinois Law,” Knight Foundation, August 7, 2015, https://knightfoundation.org/articles/knight-prototype-fund-winner-expungeio-inspires-change-illinois-law/.
Jude Jennison, Leading through Uncertainty: Emotional Resilience and Human Connection in a Performance-Driven World (Tadley, UK: Practical Inspiration Publishing, 2018).
William Damon, The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in Life (New York: Free Press, 2008).
Pamela Hinds, “When Building a Diverse Team, How Can You Set Them Up for Success?” Design Questions Library, d.school Public Library, May 2019, https://dlibrary.stanford.edu/questions/what-is-the-composition-of-the-best-or-right-team-for-a-design-challenge.
Stanford d.school, “8 Core Abilities,” Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, accessed April 13, 2022, https://dschool.stanford.edu/about/#about-8-core-abilities.
Kelly Schmutte, “DPA: Design Project Abilities,” Library of Ambiguity, d.school Public Library, May 2019, https://dlibrary.stanford.edu/ambiguity/dpa-design-project-abilities.
7. SPEED UP | SLOW DOWN
Space.com staff, “May 25, 1961: JFK’s Moon Shot Speech to Congress,” May 24, 2011, https://www.space.com/11772-president-kennedy-historic-speech-moon-space.html.
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Elizabeth Grace Saunders, “5 Strategies for Getting More Work Done in Less Time,” Harvard Business Review, January 7, 2019, https://hbr.org/2019/01/5-strategies-for-getting-more-work-done-in-less-time.
Kimi Werner, “When You Feel the Need to Speed Up, Slow Down,” TEDxMaui, December 29, 2014, YouTube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFU_n1bSyyU.
Marc Zao-Sanders, “How Timeboxing Works and Why It Will Make You More Productive,” Harvard Business Review, December 12, 2018, https://hbr.org/2018/12/how-timeboxing-works-and-why-it-will-make-you-more-productive.
Jane Ruffino, “Let’s Get Uncomfortable: Making the Most of Uncertainty in Design,” Daresay, September 13, 2017, https://daresay.co/2017/09/13/lets-get-uncomfortable-making-uncertainty-design/.
Candace Moody, “Work Wanted: It May Be Time to Rethink 40-Hour Week,” The Florida Times-Union, January 28, 2014, https://www.jacksonville.com/story/business/2014/01/28/work-wanted-it-may-be-time-rethink-40-hour-week/15802380007/.
Jeff Haden, “5 Incredibly Effective Ways to Work Smarter, Not Harder,” Inc., April 2, 2014, https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/5-incredibly-effective-ways-to-work-smarter-not-harder.html.
Margarita Tartakovsky, “Slowing Down in Order to Kickstart Creativity,” Psych Central, July 8, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20201202220320/https://psychcentral.com/blog/slowing-down-in-order-to-kickstart-creativity/ (original site discontinued).
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Alice Boyes, “5 Mental Mistakes That Kill Your Productivity,” Harvard Business Review, November 4, 2019, https://hbr.org/2019/11/5-mental-mistakes-that-kill-your-productivity.
8. FOCUS | UNFOCUS
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Srini Pillay, “Your Brain Can Only Take So Much Focus,” Harvard Business Review, May 12, 2017, https://hbr.org/2017/05/your-brain-can-only-take-so-much-focus.
Srini Pillay, “Secret to Brain Success: Intelligent Cognitive Rest,” Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School, May 4, 2017, https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/secret-to-brain-success-intelligent-cognitive-rest-2017050411705.
Alice Boyes, “How to Focus on What’s Important, Not Just What’s Urgent,” Harvard Business Review, July 3, 2018, https://hbr.org/2018/07/how-to-focus-on-whats-important-not-just-whats-urgent.
Srini Pillay, Tinker Dabble Doodle Try: Unlock the Power of the Unfocused Mind (New York: Ballantine Books, 2017).
Jinyi Long et al., “Distinct Interactions between Fronto-Parietal and Default Mode Networks in Impaired Consciousness,” Scientific Reports 6, no. 38866 (December 2016), https://doi.org/10.1038/srep38866.
Ferris Jabr, “Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime,” Scientific American, October 15, 2013, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mental-downtime/.
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9. FOLLOW THE COURSE | CREATE YOUR OWN PATH
Carissa Carter, “Let’s Stop Talking about THE Design Process,” Stanford d.school via Medium, October 6, 2016, https://medium.com/stanford-d-school/lets-stop-talking-about-the-design-process-7446e52c13e8.
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10. ZOOM IN | ZOOM OUT
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Ron Garan, “Why I Left NASA,” Medium, February 24, 2016, https://medium.com/@Astro_Ron/why-i-left-nasa-c5506749830b.
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EMERGE
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