ESCP ALUMNI magazine - Special Issue 2022 - 18

Cover Story ❙ Living in an uncertain world
By Alexandre Doskov
" I know that I don't know "
Saying 2020 was uncertain is a bit of an understatement. Actors of the working world may have
been in an uncertain position for the first time during the COVID-19, or maybe it was nothing
new. Either way, they had to create new working methods in a context where habits and markers
have changed. It has shaken certainty and led to new positive habits. What if uncertainty was a
blessing in disguise?
A
3rd
fter travelling the world, Céline
Gallon (MS 09) came back to Paris
in early April 2019. " I think it was
April, " she says, hesitating. Back then, she
lost track of time a bit; right after the trip she
made after ten years spent working for big
companies like BNP Paribas and MACIF,
she started a new job. " I joined Kearney on
5th
April. My mind was miles away; I realised
getting back to a job in Paris was crazy. " It
must be quite off-putting to switch from
a globetrotter's life to a strategic adviser's
job without a decompression chamber. Yet,
this brutal turn made her think about her
choices and their true meanings. " This trip
shook my professional life. I was quite lost; I
was back to a crazy lifestyle and insane working
hours, which is normal when you work
for a strategy consulting firm. Plus, consulting
was not for me; I am a woman of action. I
was unhappy in many aspects and my time
at Kearney did not end well... " She only got
out of this uncertain and troubled phase in
summer 2020, when she became the chief
people officer of Qobuz, a streaming and
downloading platform. Not only did she
find a job in which she felt happy, but Céline
Gallon was hired only two weeks after she
applied for the job, in a period when the
labour market was going through a rough
time due to the pandemic. She points out
the " amazingly swift process " that saved her
from a long wavering period.
Nour Heneine (MFB 18), too, had to find
a job while the world was on COVID19
hold. She went through this weird and
uncomfortable situation during winter 2019;
she was back from a professional experience
in Italy. " It was quite tough because I was
looking for a job in a city I did not know. I had
almost no connections, no markers. I panicked
a little, to be honest, because the pandemic was
starting and we all thought: 'OK, everything
is going to change, the market structure will
change, it will slow down. " These doubts
vanished in March 2020, when she was
hired as private partnership officer for
NGO Solidarités International, as France
was already under lockdown.
In essence, uncertainty is unexpected, and
professionals must deal with it, be they
hunting for a job in an unusual context,
starting their own company or shaken by
the doubts of their current job. Philippe
Gabilliet gives his own definition of this
uninvited guest: " Uncertainty is a construction
of psychological order. Future is uncertain by
definition. No one knows what tomorrow
will be like, so it is always an unknown land.
Uncertainty is a feeling that thrives afterwards.
When we feel uncertain, in fact, the actual
problem is the unexpected. But the unexpected
is the core of reality. "
Live with it, sleep with it
As for entrepreneurs, they have no option.
Uncertainty becomes part of their lives
the minute they start their business, and
it barely ever leaves them. " You marry
uncertainty, " says Camy Puech (MD 17), who
started Qualisocial in 2008. The company
offers human and digital solutions to help
businesses improve workplace wellness.
" You live with it. I don't know if we can say
you sleep with it, but you live in constant
uncertainty. It is what entrepreneurship is
about. " Thibaut Guilluy (99), who was
18 ❙
ESCP Alumni Magazine Special issue ❙ 2022

ESCP ALUMNI magazine - Special Issue 2022

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