Designing software and systems that are flexible, resilient and responsive to changing circumstances requires thinking that mirrors those qualities. We must become tolerant of, even welcoming to, ambiguity.

Yet, most of the approaches we've learned (or are forced to adopt) seek to make everything "concrete" as quickly as possible while hiding ambiguity in the proverbial closet. We know this doesn't work, when concrete expands or contracts, it breaks.

This is why we are here! To become comfortable with conceptual modeling as an essential precursor to literal coding. We are here to conceptually grapple with ambiguity together, doubt or uncertainty, because it pervades everything we will ever work on.

Alas, the rest of the world is not here. We must still go back and engage in circumstances that don't mirror our emerging comfort with orchestrating ambiguity.

In this talk, we'll explore

- Why ambiguity is valuable and how to orchestrate, rather than subdue, it.

- How architecting ambiguity into conceptual artifacts is often more trustworthy than Gantt Charts. (Though project artifacts work best in congruity with each other.)

- Structuring communication styles that will transform organizational schisms and silos into a rich harmony.

- Changing your own thinking: aka the hardest part.

Wherever your organization is on their path to adopting systems-thinking type approaches, you can begin making a difference right now with these tools.