Leading in V U C A world

What’s been your experience with VUCA world? Isn’t true that most of us feel comfortable when everything around us is stable, certain, simple and clear; knowing well that today’s corporate world is highly complex and uncertain.?

I am sure, all of us are experiencing the challenges posed by the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world. In order to overcome this challenge we need to embrace complexity and ambiguity as a way to develop our leadership abilities.

Volatile:?As we know the word ‘Volatile’ refers to frequent fluctuations e.g., share prices in the stock market or significant changes in the political landscape. This word is derived from the Latin word ‘Volatilis’, which in English means “to fly away.” In other words, conditions or situations, which are away from the reality.?

Uncertain:?The word ‘Uncertain’ is an antonym of word certain, which has come from the Latin word ‘Certus’, which in English means “to examine, discern or decide”. We use the word uncertain for describing something unknown or unreliable; resulting into inability to make a decision.?

Complex:?The word ‘Complex’ has come from the Latin word complexus, which in English means “totality.” We perceive events as complex when they have multiple facets that are interrelated yet independent. As?a leader it makes our job difficult as we have to take into account each facet as an individual object and at the same time all other facets too, i.e. in totality.??

Ambiguous:?The word ‘Ambiguous; originated from the Latin word ‘Ambigere’, which in English means “to be undecided.” In other words, situations that have more than one meaning and due to multiplicity involved have an unclear outcome.?

There is one common thread along all these four components of the VUCA world i.e. lack of clarity and certainty, which is the ‘New Normal’ of today’s business world too. Another aspect of the VUCA world is constant changes. Although, all of us know that the only constant thing in this world is ‘Change’ itself. Yet, most of us don’t like change, and prefer it to happen to anyone but them. The same is true for organizations as well.?

Most of the organizations are very possessive about their goals and processes, which sometimes are too complex. This not only makes them ‘heavy and slow’ but they find it difficult to maneuver during the changing times. To keep pace with changing business environments, we as leaders need to adapt to people and new approaches. We need to let go of our need to control and instead respond to changes as they occur. Instead of being slaves of rigid structure and processes we need to learn to go along with the VUCA environment as it happens; Make a plan, go for it, then – when the circumstances change – make a new plan, and go for that. This will make our organizations ‘Light and Fast’.

Being open to change is essential however, simply changing the office layout to an open plan with a bright lounge and dining areas and fancy coffee makers are not enough? We need to go deeper to transform our organizations by opening up our mindset towards people. We need to encourage new approaches; wherein people perceive risk as an opportunity rather than as a negative construct and take actions without seeking permission. We need to pave the way toward open, healthy team discussions, where old assumptions and beliefs are questioned. Where people willingly admit to failure and learn from their mistakes. Being open about those mistakes, we will witness beautiful and powerful things happening.?

According to a study undertaken by Gallup, about half of the US workforce is ‘disengaged.’ We know that conditions in India are no different; across organizations we have seen many disengaged employees who are physically present, but mentally absent. When such employees confront the reality of the VUCA world, they tend to ignore change and avoid seeking solutions. An “actively disengaged” person resorts to destructive behaviors including initiating or joining union activities. We need to create a ‘community of human beings’ where people come first i.e. before profit.

As leaders we should use VUCA as a tool to examine the changes taking place around us. To respond to these changes we not only need to be honest about our feelings towards changes but to accept them wholeheartedly. This will help us make sense of the situation thereby harness our awareness, which is an essential skill for today’s leaders. Rather than trying to manage change at the workplace, we need to learn to move with the change.?

The classical approach for overcoming business challenges through strategy, planning and fixed infrastructure no longer work. In order to be successful we as leaders need to be intrinsically motivated, and should focus on the task at hand. Our emphasis should be on learning from the journey as a whole, rather than only attaining the goal. Instead of basking in the glory of goal attainment learning as we go will enable us to be ready for facing future challenges.?

The conventional model of leadership training emphasizing on skills such as, “empowerment,” “leadership style” and “high-performance teams” is slowly becoming redundant. We need to identify novel, and fresh ideas to develop the leadership pipeline in our organizations.?

Off-sites so called team building exercises should not only be seen as an activity about getting people to get along but also…it should be about enabling them to question each other on their assumptions and beliefs.?

“Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.” Alan Alda

This was me scrubbing my windows. What happens when you scrub the dust off yours? Share with me the light that comes in… looking forward to reading your responses.

?What do you think?

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