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A reframe for chaotic times

I recently listened to Amy Webb deliver her SXSW Emerging Tech Trends Report. Amy Webb is a brilliant mind with fantastic energy and a team of dynamos who inform her work or their work as a thought collective at her company, FTSG. While the 2025 report contains 1000 pages of intensely disruptive trends, many already upon us, the takeaway I want to share with you today is the message Webb delivered at the beginning of her report: In times of uncertainty, the center must hold.

Turbulence itself is timeless—it has always been our constant companion. Your role is not to resist this whirlwind but to harness its momentum toward purposeful action. How can you transform anxiety into action?

Clarity is essential, and reframing one's perspective is helpful. Chaos itself is not disorder but untapped potential waiting to be purposefully directed. Your aim is not to tame what you cannot control (external uncertainty) but to cultivate internal steadiness.

Begin by cultivating strategic foresight. Chaos holds possibility. Scan the horizon thoughtfully. Recognize emerging technologies not as distant abstractions but as immediate factors reshaping your craft, industry, or research. Obstacles illuminate the path forward when observed with a curious eye, thinking like a scientist, we can deconstruct the overwhelm into action.

Curiosity is key; we must not let fear override our capacity to remain open to the fact that all human advancement contains the binary duality of positive and negative impact. How technology hinders or enhances your expertise is a narrative you can be a leader in crafting.

The embodied action of embracing movement via momentum is your ally in exploring the unknown. In moments of rapid change and uncertainty, reconnecting with foundational truths—your personal first principles—provides clarity and direction. Thinking from first principles helps you distinguish noise from signal, ground your decisions, and act purposefully even amid chaos.