Hamlet Was Wrong

How do you make decisions when the future is so uncertain? COVID has made decision making and predicting the future more difficult.

In a recent podcast, Malcolm Gladwell, adopting the approach of economist Alfred Hirschmann,  made a case for saying that “Hamlet was wrong” when trying to predict the future.

Hamlet was an overthinker. He thought too much and did too little.

The argument is that no matter how hard you try to analyze, think or work out what will happen, often it means you end up doing nothing. Hamlet’s inability to make a decision, despite much planning and plotting, tormented him.

The key is to stop seeing uncertainty as the problem, and accept that no one knows the future. It will free you up to do what you feel or think makes sense.

Stop overthinking and embrace uncertainty.

Be curious, take more chances, and start doing.