Select Upcoming Events
For speaking inquiries, please contact Tom Neilssen at BrightSight Speakers and/or reach out to Maggie for a free consult.
Book Clubs, Maggie will be happy to make an appearance!
Maggie at Google’s I/O Conference
World 50 Presents: Uncertainty as a Critical Human Resource, A Talk for Chief HR Officers
May 15th, 2024
3:30 - 4:30 pm ET
Enterprise 50 Summit (Invite-only)
New York City
Global Human Resource Leaders operate at the epicenter of workplace change, from tensions over where and how to work and frictions arising from difference to the strains of doing business in a shifting climate. Drawing on cutting-edge research and case studies, Maggie offers a deep dive into the workings of psychological uncertainty to reveal why not-knowing fuels exceptional performance in a volatile age. She takes us inside the Mars Rover mission to highlight how productive uncertainty drives accuracy, engagement, and creativity in groups. She brings us into the world of the top surgeon to show how superior experts strategically “inhabit the question” in order to find the better answer in a crisis. The lessons of uncertainty are clear: what seems to set us back in thought in reality winds up moving us forward.
Conversation Around Uncertain at the Arlington Central Library
May 22nd, 2024
6:30 - 8:00 pm
Arlington Reads
1015 N. Quincy Street
Arlington, VA
In this signature speaker series of the Arlington Library system, Maggie will discuss why our current reliance on certainty-seeking imperils our lives, our societies, and our species’ survival. She will explain why epistemic uncertainty long was neglected as a topic of study in medicine, business, and even psychology and share the new scientific discoveries that reveal uncertainty’s critical role in curiosity, adaptability, and even resilience – the cognitive skills we urgently need to cultivate in today’s era of flux. Come prepared to learn, to question, and to come away more productively unsure!
Maggie will appear in conversation with library director Diane Kresh. Arlington Reads brings authors and readers together to discuss the most important topics of our time. Past speakers include Barbara Kingsolver, George Saunders, Viet Thanh Nguyen and Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Video recording available here.
Festival du Làc
Les Merveilles d'Incertitude (The Wonders of Uncertainty)
June 8th - 9th, 2024
9:30 am - 6:30 pm
Vesenaz, Switzerland
Maggie Jackson will appear at one of Switzerland’s most renowned literary festivals to speak about her acclaimed new book, Uncertain. The only Anglophone author to be featured at the Festival du LÀC in Geneva, Jackson will speak on the event’s opening day, Saturday June 8, from 12:15 - 1 p.m. She also will be available to sign books throughout the weekend-long event, which attracts thousands of avid readers, writers, and publishers. Now in its third year, the Festival will feature 100 noted authors, including novelist Jean-Baptiste Andrea, the 2023 winner of the Prix Goncourt, France’s most prestigious literary award. Biographer Pierre Assouline will preside over the festival and novelist Metin Arditi is the guest of honor.
Free and open to all. Learn more here.
The Fluidity of Perception: A Gallery Talk
July 11th, 2024
5:00 - 6:30 pm
The Deedee Shattuck Gallery
Westport, MA
Join Maggie for a dialogue with renowned artists Chris Gustin and Nancy Train Smith on the occasion of their new dual show, The Fluidity of Perception. The three will discuss the critical role that not-knowing plays in the creative process, particularly during seismic moments of transition and unpredictability, and in their own highly collaborative work. Maggie featured Gustin’s deep knowledge of the wisdom of not-knowing in Uncertain. Maggie's books will be available.
More information here on the talk and the show.
Featured Speaker at National Cancer Institute “Innovation Lab”
July 16th, 2024
12:00 pm
Virtual
Maggie presents a brief invited “Provocation” on uncertainty’s unexpected wisdom at an Innovation Lab hosted by the National Cancer Institute, the federal government's principal agency for cancer research and training. The event will explore new ways to communicate evolving information related to cancer care, with participants including clinicians, researchers, patient advocates, and journalists. A new understanding of human uncertainty is a hot topic in healthcare, as reported by Maggie in Uncertain.
Uncertainty as Wisdom in Motion: A Keynote to the Association of Art Museum Directors
October 14th, 2024
10:00 - 11:00 am
Museum of Contemporary Art (Invite-only)
Denver, CO
How can cultural institutions and their leaders navigate a world of rising tensions and seemingly endless change with curiosity, resilience, and an open mind? Why are fertile pauses, productive unsureness, and the controlled drift of reverie essential cognitive stances for both preserving and furthering human ingenuity? In this keynote to the AAMD, Maggie reveals the startling gifts of a mindset little studied until recently, even in psychology. Far from being synonymous with weakness and inertia, uncertainty jolts us from the routine and assumed into spaces for exploring unseen meaning. It is an essential driver of good decision-making under duress and a proven path to human flourishing. There is no better time to be unsure.
Keynote: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure in an Age of Flux
October 30th, 2024
Luncheon Keynote
Pickle Packers International Annual Meeting Palmer House Hilton (Invite-only)
Chicago, IL
In this keynote to the annual conference of the trade association Pickle Packers International, Maggie will reveal how business innovators can deftly wield the space of possibilities that is human uncertainty and come out ahead in a time of rapid change. Far from miring us in inertia, not-knowing is the overlooked pathway to superior insight, innovation, and collaboration from the boardroom to the factory floor. Maggie will reveal findings from the new science of uncertainty, a host of practical strategies, a few of her reporting adventures, and the secrets to flourishing amid flux and angst. In an era of rising unknowns and heightened volatility, an "uncertainty mindset" is the new must-have skill set.
Learn more here.
Practicing Uncertainty with Skill and Care at a Thriving Startup
November 13th, 2024
11:30 - 12:30 am
New York City, NY
In this interactive keynote at Starface World's annual retreat, Maggie will share with the makers of the popular star-shaped skincare patches the secrets to practicing skillful not-knowing in an age of volatility. Startups inhabit a world of constant change and relentless questions. Unsureness can help their leaders and employees to tame their anxieties, grow their resilience and adaptability, and take their rapid-growth firms to higher levels. Launched in 2019, Starface World is a New York-based company whose acne-treatment stickers have become a fashion statement and celebrity accessory. Private Event.
A Global Event: Uncertainty as a Boost to Lean Thinking and Toyota Kata
November 21st, 2024
12:00 - 12:30 pm ET
Virtual
In this Main Stage session of the popular Lean Global Connection conference, Maggie will be in conversation with Toyota Kata coach Tracy DeFoe on the importance of cultivating skillful uncertainty in an era of flux. They will discuss why not-knowing fuels adaptability, how to cultivate productive uncertainty, and how Maggie's groundbreaking book Uncertain aligns with and can augment the popular management tools Lean Thinking and Toyota Kata. Lean Global Connection is a 24-hour marathon virtual confab that attracts 10,000 attendees annually. Space is limited!
Register here.
The Surprising Wisdom of Uncertainty in an Age of Flux and Angst
December 4th, 2024
6:00 pm
Redwood Library and Athenæum
50 Bellevue Ave.
Newport, RI
How can unsureness help us stand up for what's right and begin to heal the divisions of our day? Why does ambivalence make leaders more resourceful? Why is the uncertainty we fear actually essential for curiosity, adaptability, and resilience? Join pioneering author Maggie Jackson for an interactive talk on her acclaimed new book Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure. Drawing on cutting-edge reporting from Paris to Los Angeles and in-depth multidisciplinary research, Jackson reveals the scientific discoveries upending our outdated notions of uncertainty as weakness. Far from luring us into inertia, uncertainty is an overlooked mark of superior expertise; a proven path to mental well-being; and a remarkable antidote to the narrow-mindedness of our day. Co-hosted by the Yale Association of Rhode Island. Book Signing to Follow. Tickets: $10 for Members. $20 for Non-Members.
Register here.
The Acosta Institute Presents: Capacity-Building in Times of Rapid-Change
December 7 - 8th, 2024
Time TBD
An International Healing-Centered Education Conference (Virtual)
The Acosta Institute is a global organization that explores healing-centered education at the intersection of social justice, mindfulness, and resilience. To celebrate its five-year anniversary, the Institute is holding an international conference on capacity-building. Maggie will speak on skillful uncertainty as a driver of resilience, adaptability, and curiosity, the cognitive skills most urgently needed in times of flux and angst. How can we teach not-knowing in a world of quick, facile answers? How does our uncertainty enable us to navigate both thorny problems and people w/ whom we disagree - with equity and compassion? Nurturing a capacity for productive unsureness is critical today. Sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Sold out. Register for waitlist here.
Symposium Books Presents: The Hope and Inspiration of Uncertainty
December 14th, 2024
4:00 - 5:00 pm
Symposium Books
240 Westminster Street
Providence, RI
Why does a restful pause seed insight? How can unsureness help us stand up for what's right while also healing the divisions of our day? How does ambivalence make us more resourceful? Maggie will be meeting readers and signing books at Symposium Books in historic downtown Providence. This holiday season, tap into the timely, inspiring, and hopeful gifts of uncertainty.
Refreshments served. Free!
Inkfish Books Presents: The Gifts of Uncertainty
December 21st, 2024
1:00 - 3:00 pm
Inkfish
488 Main Street
Warren, RI
Join Maggie for a holiday book-signing for Uncertain at Inkfish, a renowned woman-owned bookstore in the heart of beautiful Warren, Rhode Island. As we close out a volatile year with no end to the rising unknowns, Maggie's popular scientific adventure tale offers eye-opening revelations on how to thrive in an age of angst. She will offer tips on how you can wield unsureness as a leader or parent without appearing weak and how simple lessons in improving your “uncertainty tolerance” can elevate your mental well-being.
Refreshments served. Free, register here.
Updating Our Mistaken Notions of Uncertainty in the New Year
January 24th, 2025
6:00 - 7:00 pm
Symposium Books
240 Westminster Street
Providence, RI
Ring in 2025 with a New Take on Uncertainty! Drawing on reporting and research from Paris to Los Angeles, Uncertain reveals the scientific discoveries upending our outdated notions of uncertainty as weakness. Far from luring us into inertia, uncertainty is an unsung mark of superior expertise; a proven path to mental well-being; and a remarkable antidote to the narrow-mindedness of our day. Packed with vibrant stories, practical strategies, and fascinating findings, Uncertain injects hope into a realm of angst and fear. Join author Maggie Jackson for an interactive talk and signing at Symposium Books in historic downtown Providence. Free!
Uncertain at One of the Country's Largest Book Festivals
March 15th, 2025
1:30 - 4:30 pm
Tucson Festival of Books, Indie Authors Tent
University of Arizona
Four hundred authors! More than 125,000 visitors! Uncertain will be featured on the opening day of the two-day Tucson Festival of Books, one of the largest of its kind. You can find Maggie all Saturday afternoon in the Indie Authors Tent at the heart of the Festival, which raises millions to literacy causes. Ask a question. Pick up a signed copy. Learn strategies for turning anxiety into resilience and rigidity into brilliance. In an age of rising flux, there’s no better time to be skillfully unsure.
Free. Learn more here.
The Wisdom of Uncertainty as a Counterpoint to the PolyCrisis
April 11th - 13th, 2025
Time TBA
Garrison Institute
Garrison, NY
The PolyOpportunity conferences bring together leaders, experts, creatives, and changemakers to explore how to nurture positive multi-disciplinary trends that confront and tame the current "polycrisis", the amalgam of interconnected global crises from climate change to polarization and authoritarianism. At this PolyOpportunity weekend retreat in a former monastery 90 minutes north of New York City, Maggie will share compelling findings from Uncertain on the surprising links between not-knowing and the cognitive skills most needed today: resilience, curiosity, adaptability, creativity.
Hosted by the Acosta Institute and the House of Beautiful Business. Limited space, early registration encouraged. Details here.
Maggie at a Strand Bookstore event for Uncertain
Invite Maggie to Speak
The Families and Work Institute
Harvard Business School
Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business
The Embassy of Sweden — D.C.
CNN Town Hall
Arena Stage/Civil Dialogues in D.C.
The New York Public Library
American Association of Museums
Google's I/O Conference, as one of the first external speakers
The Atlantic-Google Summit on Humanity+Tech
Association of Art Museum Directors
Forbes Chief Marketing Officers Summit
The Local Online Advertising Conference
Business Marketing Association
As a keynote speaker, moderator, and panelist, Maggie has addressed…
…and many other organizations and gatherings worldwide.
“Maggie is an amazing speaker and her talk as part of our Distinguished Speaker Series for HR leaders from some of the world's top organizations was fascinating. Drawing on her deep research and reporting, she taught listeners practical strategies for harnessing uncertainty to achieve better problem-solving, collaboration, and approaching life with a curious mindset.”
— Jennifer Fraone, Director of Corporate Partnerships, Boston College Center for Work & Family
“I know two things for sure: Uncertain is a wonderful, thought-provoking, and enlightening read, and Maggie Jackson is phenomenal and engaging as a speaker. She offers a refreshing reminder that not only is it okay to be uncertain but that uncertainty can lead to greatness.”
— Veronica Chappelle-McNair, Ellucian
For speaking inquiries, please contact Tom Neilssen at BrightSight Speakers