VUCA

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 deeper meaning of each element of VUCA serves to enhance the strategic significance of VUCA foresight and insight as well as the behaviour of groups and individuals in organisations. It discusses systemic failures and behavioural failures, which are characteristic of organisational failure.

• V = Volatility:
  The nature and dynamics of change, and the nature and speed of change forces and change catalysts.

• U = Uncertainty:
  The lack of predictability, the prospects for surprise, and the sense of awareness and understanding of issues and events.

• C = Complexity:
  The multiplex of forces, the confounding of issues, no cause-and-effect chain and confusion that surrounds organisation.

• A = Ambiguity:
  The haziness of reality, the potential for misreads, and the mixed meanings of conditions; cause-and-effect confusion.

These elements present the context in which organisations view their current and future state. VUCA sets the stage for managing and leading.

The particular meaning and relevance of VUCA often relates to how people view the conditions under which they make decisions, plan forward, manage risks,

Nathan Bennett, a business professor from Georgia State University, wrote this in the Harvard Business Review:

• volatility should be met with agility;

• uncertainty with information;

• complexity with restructuring (with internal operations reconfigured to address external complexities);

• ambiguity with experimentation.