Most people hate and fear uncertainty. It causes such stress and anxiety that we often choose certain surrender over doubt, becoming passive, dependent, addicted — and more anxious than ever. Artists live with uncertainty constantly — but instead of waiting for the future, they run towards making it, with agency and freedom. What can we learn from them, about facing into a future that grows more uncertain daily? At a time when organizations of all kinds crave innovation but complain their people lack creativity and initiative, the arts have never been so essential to our future.

In her new book Embracing Uncertainty: How writers, musicians and artists thrive in an unpredictable world, Margaret Heffernan, one of the most important philosophers in the UK, acclaimed TED talk speaker, entrepreneur, CEO and author, reveals how the power of the arts helps us imagine, innovate and flourish through harnessing uncertainty. She is joined in conversation by Andrew Kelly, formerly Director of Bristol Ideas, to argue for the vital integration of art into all aspects of our lives and how we can think like the very creatives and artists that she urges us to learn from.

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