Between 1973 and 1974, the U.S. military decided to survey its troops on a peculiar matter:

Food preferences.

It asked 4,000 members of the Army, Navy and Air Force to rank various dishes from favourite to least favourite.

Only there was a twist to the survey.

The U.S. military wasn’t actually interested in discovering its troops’ food preferences.

But it was interested in discovering how they reacted to fake information.

And that’s why, among the usual dishes like fried parsnips, skimmed milk and stewed prunes, the survey also included three made-up dishes.

These dishes were “funistrada”, “buttered ermal” and “braised trake”.

Want to know the survey results?

Out of 378 options, braised trake came 362^nd, buttered ermal landed 356^th, and funistrada came 332^nd, right next to the legitimate Christmas staple, the humble brussel sprout.

To my mind, these survey results reveal something interesting about how we make sense of uncertainty.

And that’s by taking something uncertain or unknown and quickly trying to make it seem as certain or familiar as possible.

But there’s a fly in the ointment with this strategy.

Trying to find more certainty in the world is a bit like trying to find straight lines in a bowl of spaghetti. 

Both are thankless, monumental and futile tasks.

And that’s because life is inherently uncertain.  Like it or not, life is full of unknowns.

Perhaps that sounds like bad news.

But I’d like to suggest this is really good news. 

Not only does embracing uncertainty free us from the impossible task of trying to know what can’t be known…

Not only does it free up more time and energy when we stop chasing certainty where certainty doesn’t exist…

But embracing uncertainty is also the path to creativity, discovery and insight. The unknown is their source.

Anyway, I’m not trying to convince you about this. Insights like this can only come from you.

The reason I bring all this up?

Today I’m running a survey of my own.

I’m doing some market research about strategies for navigating uncertainty.

I’ve listed 9 common strategies below:

1. Meditation
2. Journalling
3. Thought Laddering
4. Goal Setting
5. Breathing exercises
6. Grit-Flux
7. Mindfulness
8. Going for a walk
9. Quantum Edgework

I’d like you to rank these strategies in order of your favourite to your least favourite.

If you’d like to take part in this survey, please hit reply and let me know your rankings.