“The art of simplicity is a puzzle of complexity” – Douglas Horton
Trust you are well and keeping safe.
It is unbelievable what has transpired within the last 7 days. Most countries have banned international flights coming from the more advanced continents – Europe, North America. Stock markets have tanked to their lowest lows. It appears that the more advanced economies seem to be losing control of what to do, in the face of this pandemic. This time forces one to re-examine the purpose of your existence and what the most important things in life are. As a woman of faith, this time further authenticates the importance of growing in those areas that are not subject to unchanging and uncontrollable vicissitudes of life.
Last week, I shared my thoughts on the use of a leadership framework – VUCA, that can be applied to still thrive in these times. VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. I am sure you will agree with me that we are living in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous times; in my opinion, this is even raised the 10th degree. Last week, I shared deeper insights into the first two components of VUCA – Volatility & Uncertainty.
Today I continue the topic with sharing from my research and thoughts, on the third component of VUCA – Complexity. I had planned to share the 3rd and 4th components today, but I have gathered a lot of material and have decided to split the content into a third part.
Our world is complex – many different but interconnected parts. Who would have imagined that this new virus which was first isolated from stallholders who worked at the South China Seafood Market in Wuhan, China in November 2019 would cause this much harm to the world . According to the Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases, Liangsheng Zhang et al wrote that this same seafood market also sells wild animals, like bats – hence the possible relationship of COVID-19 with the SARS virus of 2015-2017.
I am really astonished at the impact of this seemingly inconsequential purchase and sale of bats and similar animals in faraway China on the whole world in a short space of time – for example, cancellation of flights impacts the rest of the hospitality industry; businesses that supplies these industries are also affected; loss of business revenues leads to a mass employee layoffs, and so on. The financial services industry is also impacted, and before you know it, you are impacted in one way or the other. This just shows how complex and interconnected our world has become.
In a complex situation, the process includes many interconnected actors and variables, so it is difficult to foresee the outcome of events. However research has shown that there are ways you can still thrive in this complex world. Two of these ways include:
Keep things simple – Yes, really; that simple, but not so simple (lol) ! In their book, Simple Rules: How to Thrive in a Complex World, by Donald Sull and Kathleen Eisenhardt, Professors at MIT and Stanford respectively, explain that simple rules can help you make better decisions when information is limited, vague, or overwhelming. These rules help you cut through the noise to find the salient points that enable you to pursue better processes or actions and ultimately make more sound choices.
Simple rules are further categorized in to six “rule” categories that encompass how you make better personal and life decisions are:
- Boundary rules – what to do
- Prioritizing rules – what is most important to do
- Stopping rules – what to stop doing and how to do things better or, as the authors call them, “Process rules”
- How-to rule – structure and guidance under time or information constraints
- Coordination rules – guide interactions among people
- Timing rules – when to take action
The bottom line, in my opinion is keep things simple, be laser focused on the things that align with your life mission.
Connection & Collaboration – In this increasingly complex world, it becomes critical to connect and collaborate with more people and organizations who are different from you. On a micro level, this can, for example be achieved through becoming a member of a mastermind group that comprises of people with different backgrounds and experiences. I currently run mastermind programs of female Pan-African Founders and CEOs of different sectors. Members widen their networks, expand their perspectives which serve them greatly in an increasingly complex world in a group like this. Other examples of organizations that collaborate include developing strategic alliances and partnerships that expand their access to resources and market intelligence, that ordinarily would not be exposed to. With greater cross-sector collaboration, a greater collective capacity is better able to address bigger and complex issues than a lone entity.
Question: How can you thrive by keeping things simple or increasing how you connect and collaborate with others?