How To Survive In A VUCA World: 3 Actionable Tips

How do some individuals thrive in a climate of constant change, make decisions with incomplete information, and quickly shift to take advantage of new opportunities? Essentially, these people have figured out how to survive in a VUCA world.

What Does VUCA Stand For?

VUCA is an acronym that stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. It is the rapidly evolving business environment individuals find themselves operating today.

Leadership gurus Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus first used the term VUCA in their 1985 book, Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge. The acronym was then adopted a few years later by the US Army War College to describe the perceived conditions resulting from the end of the Cold War. And today, the term VUCA world describes the business environment that individuals, teams, and organizations face.

A VUCA business environment can derail individuals, teams, and organizations as everything around them is unpredictable and constantly changing. That’s why preparing to cope with the chaos often associated with a VUCA world is vital.

3 Actionable Tips for Surviving In A VUCA World

The time to prepare for change and uncertainty is now. However, whether you’re preparing today to rise to the challenges of tomorrow or playing catch-up as you're already experiencing VUCA, here are three ways how to manage and hopefully thrive in a VUCA world.

1. Develop Resilience
2. Reframe Thinking
3. Hone Learning Agility

Develop Resilience

Resilience is how individuals respond, adapt, and overcome a situation like adversity, change, loss, and risk. It’s how people use their resources, skills, and strengths to overcome challenges, bounce back from failures and setbacks, and deal with crises as they arise. When someone is resilient they can avoid some of the typical pitfalls of VUCA by maintaining composure by counteracting an emotional response, staying calm, and evaluating the situation rationally.

Not to mention, research has found that there is a "statistically significant and directly proportional linear relationship between objective and subjective career success and resilience." In other words, if you can develop resilience through experience, resilience training, and coaching, you'll be far more likely to succeed professionally, even during uncertain and volatile times. 

Reframe Thinking

What if we changed our thinking from how to survive in a VUCA world to how to thrive in a VUCA world?

Bill George, a senior fellow at Harvard Business School, believes we should reframe our thinking about VUCA and how we prepare for it. So he developed an alternative view, which he coined “VUCA 2.0.” Using the same acronym, he’s assigned new meanings to each letter, identifying four foundational qualities needed to respond favorably to a VUCA world.

1. Vision
   To counteract the influences of a VUCA world, organizations should have a clear mission, vision, values, and strategy so that outside forces do not sidetrack what they intend to accomplish. Organizations, leaders, and individuals must use these foundational pieces to guide their decisions in a VUCA world to see through the chaos.
   
   
2. Understanding
   In the VUCA world, an organization must understand its strengths and capabilities to capitalize on the rapidly changing environment by playing to its strengths. In addition, tapping into feedback from various sources, such as customers and employees, ensures leaders can leverage alternative perspectives. Doing so reduces the likelihood of decisions reinforcing leadership’s options and biases regarding their situation by not seeking alternative viewpoints.
   
   
3. Courage
   VUCA requires quick and often bold decisions, and leaders must step up to the challenge. They need confidence in their skills and abilities to have the courage to make bold decisions when time is of the essence. Attending training focused on change management, leadership development, and business acumen is ideal for preparing for VUCA.
   
   
4. Adaptability
   Flexibility, adaptability, and agility are the name of the game for those who can thrive in a VUCA world. Individuals within an organization need to be flexible, adapt, and drive the tactics to respond to changing circumstances while staying focused on the organization’s mission and strategy.
   
   

If any of these foundational pillars are rocky, now is the time to prepare for VUCA. Start by ensuring the mission, vision, values, and strategy is clear and understood by every individual, organizational strengths are defined, leaders are equipped with the skills to step up to challenges, and leaders and direct reports alike embrace change. Hence, they are ready and adaptable to the VUCA environment they face.

Hone Learning Agility

Learning agility is the ability to figure out what to do when you are in a new situation and unsure how to proceed. Dr. W. Warner Burke, Columbia University, describes learning agility as possessing the internal motivation and willingness to go outside the comfort zone by taking action in uncharted territory. In addition to motivation, learning agility requires the skills to see the consequences of your efforts to create a plan of what to do next to continue the learning process.

Therefore, learning agility is essential to surviving in a VUCA world. To hone your learning agility abilities, try the following activities:

1. Ask your leader for a stretch assignment that exposes you to a new department or a project that is different from your day-to-day work
   
   
2. Gain new perspectives and try new approaches by listening to peers, thought leaders, and others in your industry. Experiment with newly discovered techniques and stay curious about new ways of working
   
   
3. Seeking constructive feedback from your leader, peers, and direct reports is essential to highlighting strengths, weaknesses, and new learning opportunities
   
   
4. Conduct post-mortem meetings when something goes wrong so that you learn from it
   
   
5. Schedule regular catch-up meetings to discuss progress, share insights, and address challenges, fostering continuous learning and collaboration.
6. Continually test and apply what you’ve learned from your experiences, feedback, and conversations

Conclusion

As 2020 has proven, it is not if but when you will face a VUCA world. That’s why it is imperative to prepare now to meet the challenges head-on as they appear. Doing such things as solidifying your organization or team's mission and strategy and attending training on change management, resilience, and leadership will ensure you will be ready to survive in a VUCA world.