Peter Hinssen: HR, get comfortable with uncertainty or be left behind

“In this world of constant change, the cost of waiting goes up catastrophically”.

Those are the words of UNLEASH America 2026 keynote speaker, Peter Hinssen.

Traditionally, people have had the attitude that when things are uncertain and there’s so much change, the stance is to wait for “the moment that it gets a little easier, then we’ll do something”.

However, Hinssen believes that we live in the ‘Never Normal’ – a reality defined by relentless disruption, reinvention and change; the only constant in the ‘Never Normal’ is uncertainty.

“I don’t think we’re ever going to have a normal” – there will be a relentless, “continuous flow” of innovation and disruption.

Hinssen emphasizes: “This is not a storm, this is the climate”, so “it makes no sense to wait for the dust to settle”.

“The cost of doing goes to zero, both financially and time wise – things that used to take years to implement [can be] done in months, weeks, or even days” with AI.

Hinssen, who is Partner & Co-Founder of nexxworks, wants companies and leaders to urgently realize that if they don’t get comfortable with uncertainty, “you are going to be left behind”.

It is time for organizations to see uncertainty not as a threat, but as a strategic advantage – this is what Hinssen describes in his book ‘The Uncertainty Principle’.

In an exclusive interview ahead of his Main Stage appearance at this year’s UNLEASH America show, Hinssen shares practical advice on how HR can thrive not despite of, but because of, uncertainty.

HR, you must start loving uncertainty

For decades, if not centuries, businesses have been built like machines designed to drive predictable outcomes and minimize risk.

However, in an unpredictable world, this machine model is no longer fit for purpose.

Instead, there’s this concept of an octopus organization, which was conceived by two friend of Hinssen’s and Executives in Residence at AWS Phil Le-Brun and Jana Werner.

Hinssen shares: “An octopus has different arms [which are] constantly sensing, feeling, touching and in tune with reality.

“It doesn’t just have a brain; it has intelligence distributed”.

Organizations that emulate an octopus by tapping into the intelligence of their people will be the ones that thrive in uncertainty.

This concept also echoes Hinssen’s own research around phoenix organizations – companies that successfully reinvent themselves and rise from the ashes.

In Hinssen’s view, what defines octopus and phoenix organizations in practice is the “holy trinity” of anticipating, adapting, and being resilient.

Companies must “be able to anticipate better than ever” – they need to move beyond business as usual, and look more long-term by embracing ‘day after tomorrow thinking’.

They must also be better at adapting and course correcting.

According to Hinssen, “the problem is that many companies have this fetishism for transformation” – they want to move from here to there. However, in the ‘Never Normal’, you’ll never complete a transformation, therefore, the key is to “find a way to be constantly adaptable”.

Resilience augments adapting and anticipating because it is about getting comfortable with failure.

There needs to be a shift towards recovering and learning from mistakes, because “you’re not going to get everything right”

Embracing this trifecta requires getting rid of the “ideas, concepts, governance, mechanisms and mechanism that we have from the past”.

Two companies that are doing this well are Meta and Walmart, in Hinssen’s view.

Hinssen has a lot of “respect” for decision-making at Meta; they realized that their bet on the metaverse wasn’t going to work, so they pivoted to AI.

“They were capable of sensing, anticipating, being adaptable and being resilient” and went all in on continuous transformation.

In fact, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said that speed isn’t optional anymore, it is the strategy.

Hinssen is also complementary about Doug McMillon, the recently retired CEO of Walmart.

“He’s completely guided a company like Walmart through digital transformation,” but also realized that digital transformation was just the appetizer; AI’s disruption of work is the main course.

Hinssen notes that McMillon got Walmart’s 1 million-plus employee base embracing AI – and that takes, according to Hinssen, a new type of leadership.

For Hinssen, HR are going to be “crucial” in the ‘Never Normal’. They need to build “a positive narrative for change” that takes employees on the journey, rather than leaving them behind.

The idea is to ensure everyone sees uncertainty not as a threat, but as an opportunity.

Success involves HR borrowing skills and capabilities from other parts of the business, particularly IT and data functions.

“If you’re clever and put the right people with the right skills and competencies in HR, you can navigate [the ‘Never Normal’] brilliantly. If you don’t, it’s going to be really tough”.

Hinssen’s key message is to HR leaders in 2026 is to “learn how to love uncertainty”.

Peter Hinssen and UNLEASH America 2026

Peter Hinssen will take to the main stage at UNLEASH America 2026 to exclusively share more about the uncertainty principle – if leaders can turn uncertainty into a strategic advantage, they will create organizations that can thrive amid constant change.

He will call on HR leaders to shift their mindsets and embrace those three skills – anticipate, adapt, and resilience.

Hinssen is excited about the show – “UNLEASH is a breath of fresh air”. He can’t wait to be inspired by other speakers, especially fellow keynote speaker Ethan Mollick.

It’s not too late to grab a pass to join us in Las Vegas, March 17 to 19, for UNLEASH America 2026.