Written by Mason Quah, Marketing Assistant
To live in interesting times can be both a curse and a blessing. The acronym VUCA does a good job of describing the current world. We face a Volatile and Uncertain landscape with situations that are Complex and Ambiguous.
The original acronym grew from military lingo used to describe the paradigm shift at the end of the cold war. The end of covid lockdowns is bringing its own paradigm shift and the phrase has been thrust back into common usage.
Our VUCA webinar teaches you to match this acronym blow for blow.
· A Volatile situation is stabilised by a clear Vision.
· Uncertainty allows you to Utilise the changes to get ahead.
· A complex landscape requires clear Communication on how to navigate it.
· Ambiguous futures require Agile approaches that are adaptable to potential changes.
Clear Vision
At first glance, this seems as simple as having an idea of your destination and how to get there. In application, it can spiral outward in ways that seem intimidating. How far ahead should your vision go? How many discrete steps do you need to break down your process? Are there external factors that can impact this?
Clear Vision needs to take account of the short-term factors like current changes and integrate them into the longer-term plan of where your end goal is and how the current landscape can help you towards it.
Utilising Change
There are a lot of emotional responses that we have to change, many of them instinctual. Rather than giving in to fear or confusion, we can channel that emotional energy towards achieving our goals. This is no different to flight or fight instincts: The only wrong choice is to freeze up.
Communicate your way through complexity
Those emotional responses we just talked about can be contagious. While contagious fear can lock down an entire organisation, infectious confidence can be exactly what you need to assert yourself and unify your people towards a goal.
Meeting Ambiguity with Agility
What some may describe as 'going with the flow' might be better thought of as putting wind into your sails. The chaos of the world isn't just something you need to go along with but something you can use to propel yourself.
If you want to put the winds of chaos in your sails, consider the Civil Service College's course: Leading change in a VUCA world, part of our Leadership and Management series. Our courses are available to open bookings as well as in-house delivery tailored to the individual needs of you and your organisation.
