Jennifer Spear

The only thing we can plan for today is that things are going to change, and the pace is accelerating. We carefully plan, we consider all the contingencies, and we squash the unknowns with checklists, routines and scripts yet… life continues to throw its curveballs.

Bottom line: Change isn’t going to go away! We just have to get better at it.

What we need to do is PREPARE for the UnExpected, and it starts with our mindset.

We need to become comfortable with uncertainty, which means we either have to become comfortable being uncomfortable or, we can learn to embrace the uncertainty that accompanies any change.

We need to be willing to tolerate ambiguity, we need to become courageously curious and accept the offers in change.

Life will never stop throwing you curveballs, but…

When we no longer see change as a threat, it becomes our opportunity.

The UnScripted Mindset blends the principles of improv and problem solving to help you face uncertainty. Leveraging the skills from those whose work depends on uncertainty – improvisers – we can learn to be comfortable with uncertainty, welcome ambiguity, and accept bold offers in the moment.

While improvisers cannot rehearse, they can prepare and be prepared for the unexpected.

You will laugh while you learn the skills of successful improvisers to accept the offers presented in change and to use those offers to take advantage of change. You will understand the importance of preparing for change and embracing uncertainty to create opportunity. You will have the confidence and the courage to face unknown obstacles and challenges and handle unexpected situations with ease.

Life will never stop throwing you curveballs, but… if you are prepared you can throw a curveball right back.

The future is Unscripted.

We are experiencing change at an exponential rate, and it is impacting all aspects of our work and our lives.

And more than that, the nature of change is changing. There is more complexity, more ambiguity and more unpredictability

That means more wicked problems and more uncertainty at work.

• Yet, we still have to make decisions (without all the information).
• We have to solve new problems (without any prior experience).
• We have to work with others (in new and different ways).

AND… No matter how much time and effort we invest to PLAN, “change” is going to continue to happen, and that means going off our original plan or, going off our usual script. And that is going to disrupt what we do and how we do it.

Instead, what we need to do is to PREPARE for the UnExpected.

Bottom line: Change isn’t going to go away! We just have to get better at it.

All of this requires that we become comfortable working within uncertainty.

And that requires that we: Tolerate ambiguity; Become courageously curious; and

Work unscripted.

“The more resilient you are the more resilient you will be.” Chaos2Clarity research

As a leader, you need to lead others even when you don’t know what’s going to happen next. And you need to make decisions when you’re in the messy middle of change.

How do you lead without a playbook?

With constant change there is no script, but we can prepare for it.

Prepare yourself and your team for any change by tapping into your innate curiosity, strengthening your confidence, and building your resilience.

We need challenge and change in order to build resilience, and the good news is there is no shortage of either!

If, however, we don’t take the time to recognize what we have accomplished, that constant challenge and change can lead to burnout.

This session inspires your team to embrace change and find the opportunities in uncertainty.

Build your resilience and your team’s resilience IN change.

This session can focus on:

• The Change Resilient Leader, or
• The Change Resilient Team, or
• The Change Resilient Workplace

Consider having your team take the UnScripted Assessment to understand how comfortable they are with uncertainty and change and feel prepared for any change, even if it hasn’t happened yet.

You will learn to embrace the opportunities that change presents by accepting the offers in

change in order to take advantage of change and you will recognize that you can tap into your innate curiosity and build your resilience so that you can always be prepared to face any change.

People. Yeah, we get it. They’re the worst!

The hardest part about leadership is the people, however, leading people is also the whole point of leadership!

Here’s the reality…

• Some people love what they do – their technical area of expertise.
• Some people love working with people and being a people-manager.
• Sometimes those are the same people, but often… not so much!

Some people-leaders don’t actually enjoy… you know… people. They tend to focus more on the task than the person completing it. In today’s complex work environment, we can’t leave our employee engagement to chance. We need all of our leaders to be able to engage, connect and inspire.

The good news is that all leaders can be good people-leaders.

The Curiosity Advantage can be targeted for those people leaders who don’t always enjoy… the people side. If your leaders are scientists, engineers, researchers, accountants, IT or other very technically skilled experts, they can use their strength to lead others.

“Not everyone in a crisis is in crisis.” – Chaos2Clarity research

How we handle uncertainty is the key to not only unlocking creativity and innovation, but also to our overall well-being.

Based on the one-of-a-kind research study Chaos2C/arity, this insightful presentation will have you laughing while you learn the secrets of those who are inspired by chaos and change, those who embrace the uncertainty of the situation, and those who accept the offer to create new opportunities.

Learn why “not everyone in a crisis is in crisis”, and the implications for you, your team, and your company.

Every participant will have the opportunity to take the unscripted Assessment which indicates how comfortable they are with uncertainty.

Participants will receive their own customized report which will share how unscripted they are overall and, since not everyone is unscripted in the same way, they will learn how they are unscripted, or what we call the Unscripted Edge.

The results of the entire group can be shared as a team profile, learn how you and your team respond to the uncertainty within change and how you can leverage your strengths to improve your results. Your group’s results can be compared with the population overall, leaders, women, BIPOC, or other relevant groups for your event.

There’s also an option to do a deep dive with leaders to understand where their team is and together, we can identify opportunities for improvement, areas to watch, and strategies to inspire where employees should focus to create a more change resilient team and feel more comfortable and confident when facing chaos, challenge, and change.

As professionals, you have meeting plans, contingency plans, backup plans, and buffers. But when things go wrong, you are ready! You are flexible, adaptable, and a MacGyver-level problem solver – this is what makes you great at what you do!

We spend so much time planning to control for the unexpected, but what if…

What if that “disaster” is actually a good thing…?

Some of the most memorable moments and our greatest innovation happen when things went off script.

What if instead of trying to control for those moments, we seek them out?

When we no longer see these unscripted moments as a threat, they become opportunities.

What if we could give up some control to increase engagement, creativity and innovation?

Join Jennifer Spear as she shares the secret truths about uncertainty uncovered in her national research study Chaos2C/arity. Laugh while you learn and practice the skills of those that are inspired by chaos and change, those that embrace the uncertainty of the situation, and those who accept the offer to create new opportunities.

You will understand the mindset required to embrace uncertainty and how to approach situations with curiosity and build resiliency. You will appreciate that not everyone IN A crisis is IN crisis, and the implications for you, your customers and your employees.

Learn and practice techniques and the skills of improvisers to feel confident when facing unexpected situations that can be applied immediately in your work and then you can purposely plan for and allow the UnExpected, the UnPlanned, and the UnScripted moments to happen magically.