Truth Lives in the Uncertainty

Published 24 August 2026

How comfortable are you saying, “I don’t know”?

It sounds simple, but I think it is one of the harder things to say at work, particularly when people expect you to be the expert in the room.

Over the years, I’ve come to realise that expertise isn’t about always having the answer. In fact, sometimes the more experienced you become, the more comfortable you need to be recognising where your knowledge ends, where the evidence becomes less certain and where judgement has to take over.

That is what I explore in this episode of The Pharma Medic.

Uncertainty is everywhere in our working lives. It comes up in conversations about clinical evidence, project deadlines, strategy, recruitment, budgets, career decisions and leadership. Someone asks you a question and, quite often, they would really like a simple yes or no.

But life, science and business rarely work like that.