Joe argues that the moments of greatest uncertainty — divorce, job loss, illness, market crashes — are precisely when the biggest positive transformations occur. Nature operates in cycles: forests need fire every 50 years, predator-prey populations oscillate, and human institutions redefine themselves roughly every 80 years. These moments of disruption are not bugs in the system; they are the system.
Companies, marriages, and individuals all report the same pattern: the most formative, most meaningful periods were the ones where everything was uncertain. CEOs consistently point to crisis pivots as their favorite time leading. Teams bond most deeply during upheaval.
“Those moments of rapid, holy shit, everything’s changing — are the moments where you start questioning, where you see yourself in a different light.”
The frame shift is from “uncertainty is a problem to solve” to “uncertainty is fertile ground.” You continuously grow to become larger than your previous container, and you can never truly go back. The question isn’t how to reduce uncertainty but how to use it.