Designing for Uncertainty: Rethinking Leadership Beyond Control

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FEATURING:

• Dr. Jennifer Neumaier, Director of Penn Chief Learning Officer Doctoral Program
• Dr. Lucrecia Grandolini, Leadership Consultant and Advisor

In this episode of the PennCLO Podcast, Dr. Jennifer Neumaier sits down with Penn CLO doctoral alum Dr. Lucrecia Grandolini about her chapter on leading through uncertainty from the book Leaders as Architects: Designing Organizations for Connection and Resilience, co-edited by Dr. Sharon Ravitch (University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education) and Dr. Raghu Krishnamoorthy, Director of the Penn CLO program.

Drawing on her global experience across financial services, consulting, and clinical psychology, Lucrecia challenges the traditional “plan–predict–control” model of leadership—and offers a compelling alternative.

Together, they unpack: 

• Why uncertainty is both deeply human—and deeply misunderstood
• The hidden cost of control: how it erodes trust and psychological safety
• The “living iceberg” metaphor—and what leaders miss beneath the surface
• What uncertainty-friendly organizations actually look like in practice
• Four essential leadership practices for thriving in complexity

This conversation is a powerful invitation to stop trying to eliminate uncertainty—and start designing for it.

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