though the acronym VUCA began in the 90s it has been appearing with great frequency of late. it was originally used by the US military to describe the post- cold war world. it then found it’s way into the business world following the 2008 global financial crisis. roughly speaking it translates as “it’s crazy out there!”
and it certainly describes the world we now live in. the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown us into it.so what does VUCA mean?volatility is about the speed of change
uncertainty is about our ability to predict the future, which is increasingly more difficult
complexity is about the number of factors we need to deal with, how they relate to each other and how different they are from one another.
ambiguity is about the lack of clarity or vagueness about something
elders have an exciting role to play in this world. over the next few posts we’ll explore each of these aspects of VUCA in greater detail, beginning with volatility.life has changed, and continues to change, with increasing speed. most of those changes are outside of our control. governments change their guidance daily. health care experts contradict one another. changes to our social lives shift weekly. because each bit of information is liable to evaporate, like a volatile oil, by the next news feed, it is hard to establish any stability.most elders have seen situations like this in the past. we’ve been effected, to varying degrees, by war, stock market crashes, illness and death. something that was secure in our lives has evaporated, just like that volatile oil.
in order to live with the volatility of life elders can, and probably already have, recognised it as a constant feature of life. we may have even come to embrace change as exciting and stimulating to our creativity. this recognition can lead us to developing our CQ, our ‘change quotient’, so that we don’t become overwhelmed with the rapidity and extent of the changes.
having a firm foundation in whatever we our value…kindness, generosity, integrity, honesty, service, community… can provide a balance to constant change. creating a vision of ourselves as honoured members of our society can keep us grounded in the reality of who we are and what we have to contribute. learning the skills of resilience can allow us to bounce back in the ever-changing VUCA world.elders can meet volatility with vision and values.