I recently had the pleasure of speaking at the Aon Insights Series Asia 2026 in Singapore, joining business leaders and experts for a day of conversations around one increasingly important question:
How do we make good decisions in a fast-changing and uncertain world?
It’s a question that matters enormously for leaders and organisations across Asia Pacific today. Rapid advances in AI, economic uncertainty, shifting risks and constant technological change mean that leaders are increasingly required to make important decisions without having all the information they would ideally like.
Interestingly, it’s also a challenge I’ve encountered repeatedly during my expeditions.
As an adventurer and motivational keynote speaker, I’ve spent years travelling through some of the world’s most remote and challenging environments. Whether cycling across Siberia, crossing deserts or navigating other unfamiliar territory, one reality quickly becomes clear: you rarely know exactly what is coming next.
You cannot wait until you have perfect information before moving forward.
Instead, you have to learn, adapt and make the best decisions you can with the information available.
Three Lessons for Making Better Decisions in Uncertainty
During my keynote at Aon Insights Series Asia in Singapore, I shared three lessons from adventure that I believe are particularly relevant to leaders and teams navigating uncertainty.
1. Be determined to learn and adapt
On an expedition, even the best plan eventually meets reality.
Conditions change. New obstacles emerge. Assumptions turn out to be wrong. The route that looked sensible yesterday might no longer be the best option today.
The ability to adapt is therefore not a sign that the original plan has failed. It is an essential part of making progress.
The same principle applies in business.
In a rapidly changing environment, successful leaders and organisations need to remain committed to their goals while being flexible about how they reach them. That means paying attention to new information, learning quickly and being prepared to adjust course when circumstances change.
2. Keep stepping outside your comfort zone
Growth rarely happens when everything feels comfortable and familiar.
Adventure has repeatedly taught me that stepping beyond my comfort zone is where I learn the most — about the challenge in front of me, about other people and about myself.
For leaders, the circumstances may be very different, but the principle is similar.
Navigating new technology, changing markets and unfamiliar risks inevitably requires people to operate outside established routines. Rather than avoiding that discomfort entirely, we can learn to see it as part of the process of growth.
Thinking like an adventurer means being willing to step into unfamiliar territory, while continuing to learn along the way.
3. Seek out insights from other people
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned through adventure is that asking for help is a strength.
There is a popular image of the adventurer as someone who succeeds through individual determination alone. The reality is very different.
Again and again on expeditions, progress has depended on asking local people for directions, seeking expert advice, learning from people with different experiences and recognising when somebody else knows something I don’t.
The same is true of leadership and decision-making.
When the world is complex, no individual has all the answers. Strong decision-making depends on actively seeking different perspectives and finding the people who can provide the insights you are missing.
AI, Risk and the Future of Leadership
One of the things I particularly enjoyed about Aon Insights Series Asia 2026 was hearing from the other speakers and panellists throughout the day.
Unsurprisingly, artificial intelligence was a major part of the conversation.
There were thoughtful discussions about both the opportunities created by AI and the new risks organisations need to understand. What I particularly appreciated was the balanced nature of the conversation: serious consideration of the challenges without slipping into unnecessary doom and gloom.
AI is another example of unfamiliar territory that leaders are being asked to navigate.
Nobody knows exactly how the landscape will develop. But waiting until every uncertainty has disappeared is unlikely to be an option.
Instead, leaders need to keep learning, seek good information, listen to different perspectives, experiment intelligently and adapt as the landscape evolves.
In other words, many of the qualities required to navigate the age of AI are remarkably similar to those required on an expedition into unfamiliar territory.
Thinking Like an Adventurer in a Changing World
This idea sits at the heart of many of my motivational and leadership keynotes across Singapore and Asia Pacific.
Thinking like an adventurer does not mean taking unnecessary risks or charging ahead without a plan.
It means developing the mindset to keep moving forward when the route is uncertain.
It means being determined enough to pursue an important goal, adaptable enough to change your approach, courageous enough to step beyond your comfort zone, and humble enough to ask other people for help.
Those qualities matter on an expedition.
And in a business environment being reshaped by AI, technological change and new forms of risk, I believe they are increasingly valuable for leaders and teams too.
It was a real pleasure to explore these ideas with the audience at Aon Insights Series Asia in Singapore, and I particularly enjoyed the conversations with participants afterwards.
Many thanks to the Aon team for inviting me to be part of such an engaging event.
Motivational Speaker in Singapore and Asia Pacific
Rob Lilwall is an international motivational speaker, leadership keynote speaker and adventurer based in Hong Kong, delivering keynotes for organisations and conferences across Singapore, Hong Kong and the wider Asia Pacific region.
Drawing on lessons from major expeditions and more than a decade of working with corporate audiences, Rob’s keynotes explore how individuals and teams can think like adventurers — building resilience, navigating change, adapting to uncertainty, stepping outside their comfort zones and pursuing ambitious goals.
His adventure-based keynote speeches are designed for leadership conferences, company offsites, sales meetings and corporate events where organisations want their people to approach change and uncertainty with greater courage, adaptability and resourcefulness.