A few weeks ago Another Newspaper published a superb photograph of the cockpit of a Spitfire fighter plane. The picture offered a pilot’s close-up view of the instrument panel. Here was a daunting array of indicators: not just speed, height, air pressure, fuel and so on, but many more little dials – meaningful to an experienced flyer, bewildering to the untutored civilian.
Imagine trying to keep one calm eye on that lot while looking out for Messerschmitts with the other. No easy task. It reminded me of what so many people in management say about the challenge of dealing with (and understanding) information. There seems to be an almost infinite amount of data to consider. But who has time, or the mental capacity, to do that? Decisions tend to get made on the basis of “imperfect information”. And if I had a penny for every headhunter, consultant or recruiter who told me that what businesses need today are managers who are “comfortable with ambiguity”, well, I would not have to worry so much about my future pension arrangements.
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