The past few days and weeks have hit home about the reality of the times we live in. What seemed like a short-term health crisis in distant Wuhan, China – approximately 8900 kilometres from where I live has awakened me to the impact of this virus. Reports of schools are being closed, travel bans, stock market crashes, price of oil has dipped by over 30% in less than 1 week. COVID-19 and its global impact has now got everyone’s attention
This morning, as I took a long walk in the beautiful 1000-hectare Karura forest, surrounded by lush green vegetation including century old trees, I tried to make sense of what is going on around the world. I considered how interconnected we are around the world, how your life and plans made can get seemingly out of control. As a business owner, you may have been on the verge of signing an international sales contract, but that has now been put on hold. You may have been planning to travel for your higher education or planning a holiday, but those plans have now been put on hold.
As I began to ponder on the effects of COVID-19 (Corona Virus), I recalled the VUCA framework and how this could be applied to take back some control and even thrive in this environment. This is especially so, If you are like me- a Strategic Planner, who gets jittery when it appears when there is no plan or some form of stability.
VUCA is an acronym – first used in 1987, drawing on the leadership theories of Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus – to describe or to reflect on the Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity of general conditions and situations. 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. I am sure you will agree with me that the times you and I currently live in has increasingly become more Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. In the VUCA 2 framework, noted management expert, Bill George pointed out that there are several ways to still thrive in a VUCA environment. I will share with you two of these ways and continue with some others next week.
A Volatile world – Volatility is characterized by the emergence of rapid, unexpected or unstable challenges, as we are currently experiencing. Who would think for example that, President Trump will suspend all flights in and out of Europe with less than 3 days’ notice? Such unexpected changes can throw those impacted off track. A way to thrive when in such a volatile work is to return to the basics of understanding why you do what you do – What is the value you bring through your vision, your true north star, as an individual, an employee, or a business owner? What makes you do what you do, apart from just making money? These are questions that must be answered, When everything around you is shaken, what is the substance of what makes you as an individual, as a business owner? It is the answers to these questions that keeps you anchored when everything around you is volatile.
An Uncertain World – An uncertainty impacts the cause-and-effect relationship, presenting a lack of information in general. You don’t know what is going on in an uncertain world. This usually results in fear, paralysis by analysis. A meeting of an investment group I belong to had agreed to meet over 2 weeks ago. The meeting was postponed by the organizers because the 1st case of the Corona Virus was reported in Nairobi yesterday! The meeting of 10 people was postponed really because the organizers had a lack of information. A way to thrive in this uncertain world is to arm yourself with as much information as you can so that you are aware of the facts, and not rely on rumours as your source of information. An government announcement was made that all public gatherings of events were suspended and not all gatherings were suspended. For the 1st time in over 6 months, I switched on the TV yesterday to get as much information as I can, so that I am not basing my decisions on naysayers who may have received false information. It is vitally important that you get accurate information to enable you make the right decisions in a timely manner.
I will continue with the other ways you can thrive in our Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous world next week.