The Key to Thriving in a VUCA World

The last several years have accelerated all types of change at what feels like warp speed.  On the work front, we have shifted from a focus on performance to an increased emphasis on well-being. Remote work has become the norm for many and now hybrid work has joined the mix. Workers and employees are asking for more autonomy, looking to do more meaningful work aligned with their purpose. At the same time, we are collectively experiencing a global pandemic, war, unprecedented climate change, and tremendous financial uncertainty for many. 

The acronym VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. We are living in a VUCA world today and understanding its impact on our mental health is critical.

What’s next…?!

That’s the question being asked on both personal and organizational levels.  In various ways, we have all struggled trying to adjust to these massive interruptions and rapid changes in our daily lives and habits. Some of us have embraced the changes, either by choice or necessity, while others have tried to hold tight to familiar paths in attempt to maintain some degree of normalcy.  Whatever your approach has been over the last few years, we’ve all been doing our best to adapt to situations outside of our control. 

Disruption is the new normal.

Many people and organization who have been living and organizing on the edge of change and uncertainty these last decades or more have written about their experiences.  The term VUCA – Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity was born from these common experiences.

However, did you know that many of our habits – personal, leadership and organizational – were not made for a VUCA world?  In fact, many of our habits come from being able to predict cause and effect with some certainty.

The diagram below illustrates the Cynefin framework, a conceptual model used to aid in decision-making. Created by Dave Snowden in 1999 when he worked for IBM Global Services, this problem-solving tool or "sense-making device" helps to assess a specific situation more accurately and respond appropriately. The Cynefin is a Welsh word for “place” or “habitat”.

The Cynefin Framework helps us identify and select the most appropriate management approach or problem-solving process to address the current reality of a situation.

Awakening our innate sense of well-being is the key to thriving in a VUCA world.

From my own personal experience and working with individuals, leaders and organizations to thrive in a VUCA world, one must have a grounded felt sense of well-being.  Otherwise, it’s easy to become quickly overwhelmed, which triggers our stress response and makes it impossible for us to sense those emergent patterns and novel practices that can move out of complexity and chaos into flow. If fact, very often the solutions are right in front of us, but we can’t see, hear or sense them.  I feel we all shared this experience on some level over the course of the pandemic amid tremendous levels of trauma and stress.

There is good news!  When we move into a grounded felt sense of well-being that state begins to serve as an inner compass.  As we learn to trust it and rely on it, we can begin to navigate complexity, and even chaos, rather easily. 

However, for many of us this felt sense of well-being has been dormant for many years.  So, it must be awakened and used properly, which supports us in learning to let go of old habits that may no longer be helpful.

In working with clients, this is why I consistently share, “well-being first…everything else is secondary”.  To learn more about how you can thrive in a VUCA world by increasing your felt sense of well-being, please get in touch!