KDSP Co-Founder Mollie Partesotti on "Strategy in the Age of Uncertainty"
March 17, 2026
‘Polycrisis’. That’s the word being used to describe the particular uncertainty of the modern age. Coined by French philosopher Edgar Morin, it describes the simultaneous occurrence of several distinct and interconnected global crises. Think climate change, economic instability, pandemics, and war – all interacting with one another in a way that amplifies each other. The result is a total effect greater than the sum of their parts.
It notes the shift from isolated risks, which can be managed as such, to navigating a complex, interdependent system of threats. The world is a tricky place to navigate right now. And when your job is analysing human behaviour, market trends, predicting reactions, and assessing what’s going on in the collective psyche – if there is such a thing – uneven terrain can make for a challenge.
But has strategy ever really been about stability? Any strategist worth their salt will tell you that the point is creating perspectives that can weather change. When the only true certainty is continued uncertainty, we may be mistaken to view it as a problem that needs to be solved. [...]
Mollie Partesotti, co-founder, strategy, at Kirby, Dryer, Sullivan & PartesottiThe uncomfortable truth is this: strategy was never about certainty; it was about choosing what a brand should do, given everything happening around it.
Strategists are not paid to predict the future. They’re paid to decide what matters anyway.
When everything is moving, the job is not to chase motion. It’s to identify what will not move. [...]
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