Our next attribute of life is Uncertainty. It permeates everything done in life because life is inherently unpredictable. Marines thrive on this and you should too. One of our favorite phrases is 'the fog of war' and you probably don't have to look hard to see its effects in your life.
MCDP 1 says, regarding uncertainty, that “all actions in war will be based on inaccurate, incomplete, and even contradictory information.” (More evidence that war and life are the same thing.) So given that, Marines commonly operate in the realm of the probable instead of the certain. This requires some judgment. Judgment is the intersection of intelligence and experience. If you have neither, life will be tough for you. Get used to it.
While judgment is critical to success and needs to be cultivated by thoughtful study and introspection, even poor judgment can be overcome by initiative and enthusiasm. Another very popular phrase amongst Marines, especially when counseling your juniors, is 'good initiative, bad judgment.' It's a way of telling someone they screwed up but they did it in such a way that could have been brilliantly successful. (This is often the flip side of the last article's award winning scenario.)
The key thing to remember about uncertainty is that it provides opportunity. Just like friction, it works on all belligerent parties. To live the lessons from the Marines you must be ready to take advantage of those opportunities and do so faster than the enemy. Don't worry about trying to see through the fog, keep fighting and be ready to charge into the first clear patch you find.
