Dealing with the ‘VUCA WORLD’ with ‘VUCA SELF’! – Personal Leadership

(Accepting the unpleasant and fierce reality of the world we are living in today and negotiating with it, without staying in the denial mode or losing hope – just face it and keep moving ahead)

“VUCA is an acronym used to describe or reflect on the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of general conditions and situations. The notion of VUCA was introduced by the U.S. Army War College to describe the more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous multi-lateral world which resulted from the end of the Cold War.”

- Wikipedia

Analysis and learnings from the Political, Economic, Social and Technological interferences, of the recent times (even if we take into considerations, only the last eight-nine months), the myriad developments and events across the world merely establishes the fact of the VUCA World, being so much real and for all of us to deal with and perhaps on a daily basis.

Having read and heard numerous lectures and logics on ways and means of dealing with it mostly from the organization, business & commerce and entrepreneurial perspectives, this is my take, on having a personal strategy – ‘VUCA SELF to deal with the VUCA WORLD’ to confront and get along with - the ‘pace of change’, ‘unpredictability' and 'prospect of surprise’, ‘compounding challenges’ and ‘unclear future threats & disruptions’ is here to stay.

Needless to say that we have to face it and take it head-on, with the profound strategy of having the ‘VUCA Self’ – having Valor, Unwavering belief in self, Creative Energy and above all Antifragility.

‘Valor to deal with Volatility’

“Valour is the strength, not of legs and arms, but of heart and soul; it consists not in the worth of our horse or our weapons, but in our own.”

― Michel de Montaigne, Cannibales

The courage and mental strength to accept and work with the dynamics and the astonishing pace of Change, taking place around us. Having optimum confidence and making peace with the fact that ‘Change is a constant’ in every sphere of life and will keep on happening. Crafting the ‘personal agility’ to act on a plan of action and not procrastinate or sit and watch in despair – imploring that something better will happen and take care of things.

‘Unwavering Belief in Self and one’s aptitude to deal with Uncertainty’

“Your self-sacrificing devotion to your purpose in life and your unwavering faith will carry you through times of difficulty.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

The unpredictability & lack of knowledge of future events and shocking changes are difficult to handle, which calls for very deep rooted resourcefulness and self-reliance in one’s ability to deal with such unprecedented incidences, building on our self-efficacy at every juncture and 'Moment of Truth' situation.

It’s important to get out of our comfort zone, embrace the discomforts and keep learning and building on new skills with a futuristic mindset (beyond the growth mindset) – feel intrigued and challenged, yet be poised and capable while moving ahead, to achieve our life's mission.

‘Creative Energy to deal with Complexity’

“You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.”

― Albert Einstein

One of the most profound needs of the hour and a vital competence for personal success is ‘Creativity’- to be successful in today's ‘Knowledge Economy’ and the era of Digital revolution. How one can use the creative energy to solve the complex issues and challenges, how can we make things simpler to understand and implement? How to cultivate a healthy mind and body, to focus on the tasks at hand and be resourcefully productive, instead of getting lost in the intricacies.

Antifragility to not only deal with Ambiguity but also the Uncertainty and Volatility as well.

“Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better.”

― Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

I believe this is the most important and crucial of all. Applying the concept from the book written by Nassim Taleb.

As stated by Taleb "Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty…… .” Therefore, every time there is a VUCA situation you have to face it at a much higher level of preparedness, stronger and better, not being so fragile – break down in despair or suffer in silence.

As much possible having the mindset to latch on to the opportunities to actually grow from chaos, volatility and ambiguity – moving beyond just resilience and ultimately being antifragile.

Among many enlightening ideas/concepts that Taleb brings in his book ‘Antifragility’ – one of my personal favourites is ‘via negative’ – The art of Adding to your Life by Subtracting from it. How can we get to work on subtracting unhealthy habits (smoking, gambling), people (toxic and negative persons), wrongful practices (ever increasing debt, late nights) etc instead of aiming at adding things to our life? Such a fascinating book as was the ‘Black Swan’.

“Ambiguity is not, today, a lack of data, but a deluge of data.”

― Paul Gibbons, The Science of Successful Organizational Change

To Conclude - it’s of immense importance to have a strategy for personal-effectiveness in the ever so changing, complex and ambiguous environment around us and finally how to be antifragile and actually be better & gain from the disorder and chaos to be the ‘Champion’ that we all want to be in life! Practice the VUCA Self.