Think about how you would feel if you did not know how you were going to pay for your next meal or if a stranger approached you in the dark. When we are in a situation that differs from expectations or are unable to make predictions we feel like we did not understand something or feel uncertain. Such situations can activate a threat response. In the case of the approaching stranger, the threat response could cause us to run away, attack the stranger, or freeze up not knowing what to do. In addition, rather than being able to rely on memory and established patterns, the brain has to expend more energy trying to make sense of the new situation. This decreases the amount of mental resources available for other cognitive tasks and can result in a decreased ability to understand nuance or think creatively.

This threat response happens even when the uncertainty is not life-threatening. On work teams, large-scale changes with unclear timelines and objectives can create the same response in the brain. Some behaviors that help to minimize the threat response include:

• Setting clear objectives, roles and timelines before the start of a project.

• Breaking bigger tasks down into simpler steps.

• Ensuring transparent information-sharing.

• Mapping out potential outcomes/scenarios to prepare (e.g. holding a fire drill).