Moving Without Knowing — The Benefit of Action
Originally published on Digoshen in September 2026, as part of the Beyond the Old Playbook podcast and reflection series.
When the future is uncertain, our instinct is often to wait for more information, greater clarity or the perfect moment to act. Yet in a rapidly changing world, waiting can become a limitation in itself.
Drawing on a Beyond the Old Playbook podcast conversation with Lidija Drobež, this reflection explores how taking action, even without knowing the outcome, can create learning, reveal possibilities and help us find direction.
Reflections
We often assume that clarity must come before action. But in complex situations, understanding may emerge only when we begin to move.
Small experiments, thoughtful decisions and a willingness to adjust can help leaders and organisations discover opportunities that planning alone cannot reveal. Acting without certainty does not mean acting recklessly. It means combining judgement with curiosity, learning and adaptability.
Perhaps progress is less about knowing the destination in advance and more about developing the confidence to take the next meaningful step.
The Message
We do not always need to know where the journey will lead before we begin. Sometimes action itself creates the clarity we are seeking.
Leadership under uncertainty requires the courage to move, the humility to learn and the flexibility to change direction as new possibilities emerge.
What might become possible if you stopped waiting for certainty and took the next step?
Read the full reflection here
Moving Without Knowing — The Benefit of Action — Digoshen
About Liselotte Engstam, Digoshen & Novisali
Liselotte Engstam is an explorer of perspectives, an adventurer of ideas, a pathfinder of meaning, and a guide of timeless transitions. She bridges the worlds of board leadership and art, helping organizations and individuals navigate disruption while nurturing creativity and reflection.
As founder of Digoshen, she works with boards and leaders to expand future insights and reduce digital and sustainability blindspots. Through research, networks, and executive programs, Digoshen supports responsible value creation in the digital and sustainable age, contributing thought leadership via books, articles, events, Digoshen Exploring Leaders podcast, and blogs.
She also serves as Chair of the Boards Impact Forum in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Climate Governance. The Forum convenes board members, thought leaders, and experts in dialogues, webinars, and collaborative events, accelerating action on climate, AI, and sustainability.
Through her artistic practice as Novisali, Liselotte explores creativity and meaning. Her watercolors, digitally reimagined, invite reflection and renewal, offering perspectives that connect head, heart, and hand, and complementing her work with leaders and boards.
→ Discover more at www.Digoshen.com
→ Learn more at www.BoardsImpactForum.com
→ Find more about Liselotte at www.liselotteengstam.com and her Google Scholar page
→ Explore Liselotte’s art and reflections at www.novisali.com and follow on Instagram @novisali_arts