BREAK THAT VUCA JINX

This is the VUCA Era- a common statement that is heard all over the World and almost in every walk of life. VUCA is an acronym used to describe or reflect on the Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity of general conditions and situations. VUCA has penetrated at each level and phase of human life. Confusions keep cropping up in human minds even as the World has been virtually shrunk and is commonly labelled as a Global Village.

Luxury today knows no bounds. The planet is full of amenities, devices, gadgets, life-saving paraphernalia and what not. However, the dream of settling the Mother Earth into the elusive Eden Garden remains unfulfilled. Each human is trying to outgrow his/her own self. This, surely is a biological phenomenon, as one grows. However, the lust for endless growth leads to a mix of confusions which then grow faster than anything else and thus is born the VUCA. The lives of humans have got cluttered rather than getting uncluttered with the ever penetrating technology. One does not know where to stop and what to do in case of encountering a speed breaker jump in the life’s arena.

Almost all humans are employees in some way or the other. Either they serve an outside agency, or, if not outsiders, then, they serve their own creations. After all, everyone gets up in the morning and serves himself/herself! Even breathing can be considered as a service. The service is supposed to be a comfortable process for a skilled human being. Each one gets picked up for a particular work based on their qualifications/skill sets developed.

In spite of skills and all the training, humans fall into the vicious VUCA Loop. Once they fall then the VUCA Loop continues to cast it’s never ending spell. Employees end up playing truant at works be it professional or personal and keep leaving digital traces of the misadventures. Poor delivery patterns emerge as the set datum is not reached due to lack of focus. The aim to do “much more with much less” keeps the humans tied up into myriad activities some of which are actually beyond their skill sets and natural capabilities. Technology is supposed to be breather for humans, but, here we are standing in a World where communications between humans are falling to lower levels. Technology has brought in the spoken jargon and use of the half understood jargon is leading to more of VUCA.

The clarity of the mission or the works to be achieved gets lost as VUCA emerges in simplified processes. Each process has a definition and a road-map. Difficulty levels have a natural place in any process achievement. However, the cluttered mindset blocks even the easiest of operations. What is the reason for the cluttered mindsets and its natural outcome-VUCA? Is it lack of clarity as humans are not designed to address multiple issues or is it that the cluttering of processes is the hallmark of the humanity? The human capabilities have only increased vi-à-vis their life spans. However, the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity has increased multiple fold in almost all the arenas of human influence. Too much of care, support and availability of various means has dented the human performance rather than enhancing it. Long working hours, poor health, lack of focused approach and confusions in spite of long duration meetings clearly reflect the long shadows of VUCA. Vested interests keep natural progress at bay and does not let the global village to stabilize.

So, what do the humans need to get out of the VUCA jinx? Simplicity is the key for rich civilizations. All that is required is understanding of the objective and to approach towards the mission without a negative self-interest. Humans have always succeeded when they have kept their differences aside and worked selflessly. There is no harm in calling a spade as a spade. A spade cannot be a gun, right! Keep life at its simplest boundaries and the World starts appearing round. A flat path can be long and tiring. A round path at least brings one back to the start point. Confusions lead to panic and downgraded performance is the natural outcome. VUCA emerges suddenly out of nowhere and then there is no escape from its venomous jaws.

It is true that the fittest will only survive. To remain fit, humans have to really work hard. The cluttered humans will continue to fall behind in the race towards survival. The aim is not to lose the sight of the mission but to scale it with ease. The plans should not fall apart at the first impact with the enemy or the situation. Simple objectives can be converted into complex goals and scaling can be carried out to climb the stairs of success smoothly. Each field requires humans and in each field there are cluttered and uncluttered methods. The choice would remain with humans to break the VUCA jinx by remaining alert and perform according to their capabilities.

After all, nothing remains permanent and change is the only constant. The Management Gurus have preached VUCA to the World and days are not far when something new emerges and outshines today’s VUCA. Change should always be for the betterment, isn’t it folks? So, why live with VUCA! Break that jinx, move on and do not let your mind get clogged. Take bold decisions and move along for no one in this World is actually perfect. We are all being measured against a gauge and who knows what its calibration standards are! VUCA can be captured and eased out of human lives. It just requires a bit of standing up for the harder rights instead of the easier wrongs. So, do you have it in you to capture and decimate the jinx of VUCA circling your life, eh!!