Welcome to a VUCA World

VUCA. It has become a trendy leadership acronym referring to the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous state of the increasing evolving world. We are living and leading in times of exponential change and VUCA is a catchall for “Hey, it’s crazy out there!” 

The U.S. Army War College introduced the concept of VUCA to describe the more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous multilateral world perceived as resulting from the end of the Cold War. More frequent and mainstream use began from 2002 and has subsequently taken root in leadership ideas applied to a wide range of organizations, from organizations, government and education. VUCA is our new reality and it is here to stay.  

Understanding the world we live in helps provide the context to redefine our role and power within it. The world is demanding that we shift our relationship to thrive within complexity rather than fight to conquer it. To do this, we must shift from indexing on what we know to how we think; building future-fit skills like creativity, decision-making speed amidst ambiguity, adaptability and resilience. We must build flexibility and adaptive problem-solving that equips leaders and  teams to dance gracefully within the storm. 

Flexing old muscles won't help navigate new waters. The days of the once celebrated “expert leader” are gone. Replacing the once celebrated expert is a new leader; one who doesn’t have all the answers. No longer with the ability to jump in, solve or knowingly lead a group to the ‘right answer’, this new leader is left to inspire teams to look at the world and to navigate teams to places that they themselves haven’t been. 

If you are a leader who finds yourself navigating new VUCA waters, consider accepting your new vulnerability as an opportunity to show authenticity, to ask powerful thought-provoking questions and showcase comfort in the unknown so others can too. 

It may be a new era but we still have the power to elevate, unlock and discover better tomorrow.... it may just have to be a new, more flexible path to get there.