Uncertainty is perceived as negative, unstable, an uncomfortable feeling. Discovery is positive, exciting, uncharted territories to be explored. But aren’t they both considered to be the “gray “area?

There are times at work where you might hear “this might feel a little gray” or “stick with me, trust me while we figure it out.” Hi! It’s me, I’m one of those people. These things are said to me because I both crave structure and want absolute freedom and autonomy. If something is handed to me as a mess of unsorted pieces, it will leave me in the form of bullets, pictures, diagrams, and maybe a plan. My brain functions like SQL, sometimes like Adobe XD, and sorting things is important for many reasons.

I’ve been asking myself lately “at what point does something transition from ‘gray’ to problematic, disorganized, or lazy?” Here are the boundaries that define my comfort zone:

1. Job descriptions should not be gray. Building a team is gray- it’s new, you’re still planning and assessing your needs, gaps, and strengths… But as people are moved around, hired, promoted, etc. job descriptions are critical. They serve as a tool for alignment, accountability, and development.

2. Organizational structure should have as little gray as possible. Shuffling of people, responsibilities, and teams happens all the time. The key to success in transition is a clear path to escalation, problem-solving, and development. It comes down to roles and responsibilities, can you answer these questions?

   1. Who should I go to for help with my personal development? (boss, coach, mentor, etc.)

   2. Who can help me as a mentor in XX skill? (peers, senior leaders, etc.)

   3. Who can help me with operational challenges? (operational leadership, people with operational strengths, etc.)

   4. Who can I go to outside of my direct leadership with concerns or escalations? (HR, individuals with high EQ, etc.)

3. Major decisions should not be gray. All leaders (should) reserve the right to a) make a decision and change their mind and b) make the wrong decision and learn from it. However, changing the answer should happen less times than not, and should be reserved for instances where you see that you may be walking your team off of a cliff… not because of the feeling you woke up with or the person you talked to an hour ago.

4. New projects, solutions, and approaches SHOULD be gray. As tough as it is to start from zero, it’s also exciting. If you’re trying to build something, break something and start over, or test something- expect to operate in the gray area. Something that helps me work through a new process is setting a clear goal, expected outcome, and something I want to learn in the process. Alignment on these core pieces of information will align a team and ensure growth.

5. Answers to analytics questions in marketing… are going to be gray sometimes. The world of analytics is a spectrum… sometimes you’re going to have a high level of confidence, a pre-defined design of experiment and a clean dataset to work from. In other instances, you’re inferring, gathering requirements after the fact, and asking as many questions as you can to gather the right context. That’s okay, incremental progress and learning is enough as long as it’s not the standard.

What to do if your boundaries are being crossed:

1. Ask yourself: Is my expectation of this situation realistic? (Maybe ask a friend, it always sounds better when I’m talking to myself. )

2. Negotiate. If someone loves operating in the unknown and what’s possible, try to meet them in the middle. Propose solutions, ask for help and be clear with what you need.

3. Be clear about your needs in an appropriate, and kind way. Give feedback in a constructive way, and follow the golden rule.

4. Be patient. Sometimes, the structure is coming, you just need to trust your leaders.