{"id":21398,"date":"2018-12-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/global2020prd.wpengine.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/"},"modified":"2024-03-07T11:00:42","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T11:00:42","slug":"responding-to-vuca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/","title":{"rendered":"Responding to VUCA"},"content":{"rendered":"

The business world loves an acronym and one that\u2019s been doing the rounds in the last few years is VUCA \u2013 the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world we now work in. For many of us this probably does seem a pretty good description of our current internal and external environment. If this is the case, what can we do about it? \u00a0A number of businesses have embraced the antidote to VUCA of focusing on our Vision, Understanding, Clarity and Agility, as proposed by Bob Johansen of the Institute of the Future. This broadly makes sense, however when it comes to dealing with \u2018Complexity\u2019, in our experience searching for \u2018Clarity\u2019 is not the answer.<\/p>\n

So what does this antidote look like in practice? In terms of \u2018Vision\u2019, leaders at all levels need to communicate clearly where we are headed and how that will benefit our customers and our business \u2013 whilst staying open and flexible as to how we might get there.<\/p>\n

\u2018Understanding\u2019 is about making a conscious effort to \u2018stop, look and listen\u2019 to a wide variety of sources and perspectives (from customers, competitors, employees at all levels, critics, insights from data, market commentators, and those currently outside your market).\u00a0 Having a full and detailed picture of what is going on will help you make an informed decision as to when to persevere, iterate or pivot completely.<\/p>\n

Even before the current digital revolution speeded things up enormously, our experience over the past 30 years is that the search for clarity in today\u2019s complex and matrix organizations is futile.\u00a0 Better to get used to and embrace ambiguity \u2013 keeping in mind the ultimate goal and vision.\u00a0 Former CEO and chair of Medtronic suggests the antidote to Complexity should instead be Courage: to learn from the tech giants and lean start-ups to take risks, fail fast and iterate as the complex situation evolves. There will never be full clarity.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been blogging about the realities of \u2018agility\u2019 and Agile working in a matrix and virtual environment over the last few months.\u00a0 A key part of that is helping individuals become more \u2018learning agile\u2019.\u00a0 Extensive analysis by Dr Burke and colleagues from Colombia University<\/a> has identified nine behaviours that make up learning agility and will help you as an individual thrive in a VUCA environment:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Flexibility \u2013 willingness to try new things<\/li>\n
  2. Speed \u2013 rapidly grasping new ideas<\/li>\n
  3. Experimenting \u2013 testing out new ideas<\/li>\n
  4. Performance\u00a0risk taking\u2013 taking on challenges<\/li>\n
  5. Interpersonal risk taking \u2013 asking others for help<\/li>\n
  6. Collaborating \u2013 leveraging the skills of others from different functions<\/li>\n
  7. Information gathering \u2013 increasing your knowledge<\/li>\n
  8. Feedback seeking \u2013 asking for feedback<\/li>\n
  9. Reflecting \u2013 taking time to reflect on your effectiveness<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Applying point 9 straight away – in the past two weeks, reflect on how many of these learning agility behaviours you have shown at work. \u00a0Which could you try out in the next two weeks, and how?<\/p>\n

    Note May 2020<\/strong> – following the COVID 19 crisis nobody needs more convincing about the volatility of our environment. The challenge is more about how to work in a more remote, integrated and digital way. See our insights<\/a> on these themes here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The business world loves an acronym and one that\u2019s been doing the rounds in the last few years is VUCA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":21399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","type-blog","training-agile-and-digital","training-matrix-management","training-virtual-teams"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nResponding to VUCA - Global Integration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The business world loves an acronym and one that\u2019s been doing the rounds in the last few years is VUCA \u2013 the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Responding to VUCA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The business world loves an acronym and one that\u2019s been doing the rounds in the last few years is VUCA \u2013 the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Global Integration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-04T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-07T11:00:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/adults-analysis-banking-1451447-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1916\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Debbie Marshall-Lee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Debbie Marshall-Lee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/responding-to-vuca\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/responding-to-vuca\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Debbie Marshall-Lee\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1fa12bfdb63cb06a915dc1478d791465\"},\"headline\":\"Responding to VUCA\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-04T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-07T11:00:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/responding-to-vuca\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":517,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/responding-to-vuca\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/adults-analysis-banking-1451447-scaled.webp\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/responding-to-vuca\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/responding-to-vuca\\\/\",\"name\":\"Responding to VUCA - Global Integration\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/responding-to-vuca\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/responding-to-vuca\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/adults-analysis-banking-1451447-scaled.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-04T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-07T11:00:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"The business world loves an acronym and one that\u2019s been doing the rounds in the last few years is VUCA \u2013 the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/responding-to-vuca\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/responding-to-vuca\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/responding-to-vuca\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/adults-analysis-banking-1451447-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/adults-analysis-banking-1451447-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1916,\"caption\":\"Image\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/responding-to-vuca\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Responding to VUCA\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"www.global-integration.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Global Integration\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/GI_logo_hero.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/GI_logo_hero.webp\",\"width\":312,\"height\":271,\"caption\":\"Global Integration\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uk.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/global-integration\"],\"description\":\"Global Integration are a leading global training provider specializing in matrix management, cross-functional teams, remote, virtual and hybrid working. They provide highly interactive face-to-face, virtual and online learning delivered globally\",\"email\":\"kevan@global-integation.com\",\"foundingDate\":\"1994-04-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"11\",\"maxValue\":\"50\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1fa12bfdb63cb06a915dc1478d791465\",\"name\":\"Debbie Marshall-Lee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Debbie Marshall-Lee\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/author\\\/debbie-marshall-lee\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Responding to VUCA - Global Integration","description":"The business world loves an acronym and one that\u2019s been doing the rounds in the last few years is VUCA \u2013 the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Responding to VUCA","og_description":"The business world loves an acronym and one that\u2019s been doing the rounds in the last few years is VUCA \u2013 the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous","og_url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/","og_site_name":"Global Integration","article_published_time":"2018-12-04T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-07T11:00:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1916,"url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/adults-analysis-banking-1451447-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Debbie Marshall-Lee","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Debbie Marshall-Lee","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/"},"author":{"name":"Debbie Marshall-Lee","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1fa12bfdb63cb06a915dc1478d791465"},"headline":"Responding to VUCA","datePublished":"2018-12-04T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-07T11:00:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/"},"wordCount":517,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/adults-analysis-banking-1451447-scaled.webp","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/","name":"Responding to VUCA - Global Integration","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/adults-analysis-banking-1451447-scaled.webp","datePublished":"2018-12-04T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-07T11:00:42+00:00","description":"The business world loves an acronym and one that\u2019s been doing the rounds in the last few years is VUCA \u2013 the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/adults-analysis-banking-1451447-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/adults-analysis-banking-1451447-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":1916,"caption":"Image"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/responding-to-vuca\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Responding to VUCA"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/","name":"www.global-integration.com","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization","name":"Global Integration","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GI_logo_hero.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GI_logo_hero.webp","width":312,"height":271,"caption":"Global Integration"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/company\/global-integration"],"description":"Global Integration are a leading global training provider specializing in matrix management, cross-functional teams, remote, virtual and hybrid working. They provide highly interactive face-to-face, virtual and online learning delivered globally","email":"kevan@global-integation.com","foundingDate":"1994-04-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"11","maxValue":"50"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1fa12bfdb63cb06a915dc1478d791465","name":"Debbie Marshall-Lee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Debbie Marshall-Lee"},"url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/author\/debbie-marshall-lee\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}