Acquiring the facts for effective actions. Certainty is to know without doubt the situation, potential actions and consequences, so that one can make an informed decision with maximum knowledge of the outcome.
The philosophic discipline of epistemology is the study of the difference between knowing and believing, in which knowing is related to certainty and believing occurs without being certain. Emphasis is on the methods of empirical analysis that lead to "certainty". The European reference is to gnosiology.
Implementing this approach utilizes a number of processes ranging from pure sense perception to logical deductions to use of a priori "intuitional" knowledge. Gathering of factual information and case studies of similar situations provides basic information. Polling opinions and group planning by those implementing a plan provide another dimension of certainty. Research, evaluation and analysis are cornerstones of the strategy of certainty.
No amount of knowledge assures the outcome of an action in a relativistic universe. The quest for certainty is to minimize failure in strategic actions and include use of experience and intuitions. Levels of assurance vary with the actual amount and types of analysis done and reduce tendencies to subjectivity, impulsive and fruitless action. The more comprehensive, inclusive and holistic the analysis, the more likely the desired result.
The search for the tried and true impedes use of intuition, restraints creativity and imagination, and maintains the status quo, making it difficult for innovative actions to occur. Random factors are often the key to strategic success, rather than their rational, quantitative models.