“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence...

...it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”

Happy New Year and welcome to a new year of leadership opportunities in a challenging business environment! As the title quote suggests, we are living and working in times of turbulence as we’ve described in the past using the acronym, VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous). We exited last year challenged with recovering from mother nature’s wrath compounded by the pace of change under the new administration. It is a good time to remind ourselves once again that no matter the level of turbulence, leaders have a responsibility to lead well in the context of the current VUCA business environment.

It is the second part of Peter Drucker’s title quote we are focused on in this discussion. The ability to tackle current turbulence levels with relevant logic is likely the greatest challenge today’s business leaders face. When we work with business leaders, both for profit and nonprofit, small business and corporate, private or public, the common language we use to describe the right types of decisions is around relevance.? We consciously avoid describing situations as old or new and today’s or yesterday’s logic. The only thing that matters is how leader’s decisions and actions are relevant in the current context in order to achieve desired results.

How do leaders avoid this dangerous trap of using yesterday’s logic? The first step will always center on recognizing the shift from what was relevant yesterday to what is now relevant today. Peter Drucker’s quote speaks to the danger of yesterday’s logic. However, in our experience, it is the absence of logic altogether or not enough logic to offset the emotional reactions to the turbulence that is an even greater danger. Making the time to objectively assess the turbulence and applying the collective critical thinking of the leadership team to evaluate the turbulence against the current organizational strategy is paramount!

Invariably, the process of identifying the new context will reveal gaps in the leader’s knowledge base to effectively address the turbulence. Thus, the next key to avoid using yesterday’s logic is to learn what relevant logic looks like. We’ve written extensively on the importance of continuous learning for leaders at all levels. In this context, we’re reminded of what Dr. Martin Luther King wrote in a 1947 Morehouse College campus newspaper when he said, “The foundation of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.” A leader’s relevant logic is deeply grounded in both of these principles of thinking both intensively and thinking critically supported by their drive for continuous learning!

The final key to avoiding yesterday’s logic is to act decisively based on the outcomes of the first two discussion points above (trend identification and updated learning). Acting with purpose is based on gathering complete and current data related to the current business context and creating specific actions to advance the business strategy amid the turbulence. In most cases, the turbulence affects entire markets and/or industries. Leaders not taking purposeful action in the face of turbulence means they are consciously abdicating market share to their competitors who are!

The turbulence of the current VUCA business environment is, at this point, a constant business leaders must contend with. Having systems in place to capture and characterize the turbulence and to continuously learn how to address the impact is crucial. They set the leader up to act with relevant logic and achieve sustainable success!

How are you acting with relevant logic in this new business cycle? If you're not sure, we can help!

Lead well!