Uncertainty is no friend of an editor with quality goals and deadlines to meet.

By William Dunkerley

Seasoned casino gamblers are well accustomed to being up against uncertainty. Publication editors aren't. We rely upon a high degree of certainty to produce repeatedly a high-quality editorial product.

But now we are hearing from editors who to varying extents are having to cope with an unusual level of uncertainty. It is just one of the impacts the ongoing pandemic has had on our profession.

Has Uncertainty Affected You and Your Staff?

Many editors have faced job uncertainty. Publications themselves have had to deal with uncertainty about actual survival.

Getting down into the details of putting an editorial product together, there are new uncertainties as well.

Will sources of content come through as usual? Will your editorial staff be able to do their jobs well, given whatever Covid-related restrictions you may face? That kind of uncertainty can surely add to the stress of running any editorial department.

A study in the UK by Simetrica has shown that even in the general population stress levels are up. It indicates that levels of psychological stress are more than double over last year. They are somewhat higher for key workers. Meanwhile life satisfaction, happiness, and sense of worth are down.

The Washington Post on September 12 ran a story titled "Uncertainty Fuels Anxiety, Causing Your Mind to Conjure Up Scary Scenarios. The Pandemic Can Magnify the Angst."

The story's lead: "As it has become clear that the coronavirus pandemic is here for the foreseeable future, we’re all learning to live in a cloud of uncertainty..." Unfortunately for us, uncertainty is anathema to good editorial work. Living in a cloud of uncertainty is difficult when you have finite quality standards and established deadlines.

To wit, the Post continues, "Some people are more naturally tolerant of uncertainty than others. Having a 'planner' personality can predispose someone to feeling extra anxiety in response to uncertainty, says Lacie Barber, an occupational health psychologist at San Diego State University. 'Trying to exert control on an uncontrollable situation can leave you feeling even more stressed,' she says."

So that's what we're faced with.

Now What Can We Do About It?

One thing is to realize that different staffers will have varying degrees of coping ability. For some, coping at work may be compromised by having to cope with whatever else may be going on in their lives. Helping your staff members to acquire an awareness of where they stand may help them to keep things in perspective.

There is actually a psychological instrument that could be helpful for all. It is called the "Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale." It is a component of the PhenX Toolkit that was funded by the National Institutes of Health and other concerned organizations.

I recommend that you make this assessment device available to your staff. I also recommend against asking staffers to share their results with you. That would be too intrusive.

The instrument poses these 27 statements for participants to react to:

1. Uncertainty stops me from having a firm opinion.

2. Being uncertain means that a person is disorganized.

3. Uncertainty makes life intolerable.

4. It's unfair not having any guarantees in life.

5. My mind can't be relaxed if I don't know what will happen tomorrow.

6. Uncertainty makes me uneasy, anxious, or stressed.

7. Unforeseen events upset me greatly.

8. It frustrates me not having all the information I need.

9. Uncertainty keeps me from living a full life.

10. One should always look ahead so as to avoid surprises.

11. A small unforeseen event can spoil everything, even with the best of planning.

12. When it's time to act, uncertainty paralyses me.

13. Being uncertain means that I am not first rate.

14. When I am uncertain, I can't go forward.

15. When I am uncertain I can't function very well.

16. Unlike me, others always seem to know where they are going with their lives.

17. Uncertainty makes me vulnerable, unhappy, or sad.

18. I always want to know what the future has in store for me.

19. I can't stand being taken by surprise.

20. The smallest doubt can stop me from acting.

21. I should be able to organize everything in advance.

22. Being uncertain means that I lack confidence.

23. I think it's unfair that other people seem sure about their future.

24. Uncertainty keeps me from sleeping soundly.

25. I must get away from all uncertain situations.

26. The ambiguities in life stress me.

27. I can't stand being undecided about my future.

Respondents are asked to use a five-item scale to describe to what extent each of those characteristics fits them. The scale ranges from "not at all characteristic of me" on one end to "entirely characteristic of me" on the other, with "somewhat characteristic of me" in the middle. They are each numbered 1 to 5. The respondent should pick a number for each characteristic.

To score the results, one should add up all the numbers and divide the result by 27. That will yield the average score. Additional scoring instructions appear on the Phenx Toolkit website here. You can also download a PDF of the measurement instrument there.

While I recommend against asking staff members to share with you their results, there is something you can do: encourage them to bring to you privately any related concerns that they might want you to understand and be aware of.

This activity can be a first step in helping your staff to deal with "The Enormous Weight of Editorial Uncertainty."

It is a positive step, and it might help to ward off pessimism that is being spread through our society. It was particularly unfortunate to see an article in The Atlantic titled, "America Is Trapped in a Pandemic Spiral: As the US heads Toward the Winter, the Country Is Going Round in Circles, Making the Same Conceptual Errors That Have Plagued It Since Spring." That's no help!

William Dunkerley is principal of William Dunkerley Publishing Consultants, www.publishinghelp.com.

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