The Antidote to VUCA

Ircel Harrison, Coaching Coordinator

We live in a VUCA world.  What does VUCA stand for?  This is an acronym introduced by the U. S. Army War College in the early 1990s to describe the world we entered when the Cold War ended--volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.  The term is now used to describe the contemporary context in which we live and work. 

Although the COVID-19 pandemic is currently the most recognizable manifestation of this VUCA world, we have been immersed in this context for decades--9/11, the war on terror, the recession of 2008, globalization of trade, racial inequity.  These national and global movements also impact us locally in terms of shrinking manufacturing, an increasingly mobile workforce, and community decline.  Add to this the natural impact of tornadoes, hurricanes, and wildfires.  We face volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous situations on a regular basis.

What is the antidote to VUCA?  Bob Johansen, distinguished fellow at the Institute for the Future and author of Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World proposes embracing vision, understanding, clarity, and agility—the opposite of the VUCA model. These four skills and abilities can be viewed as a leader’s antidote to a VUCA environment.

First, vision.  Vision keeps us focused in the storm by providing us a way forward.  Circumstances may slow our progress in achieving our vision, but we still have a direction and purpose.  Too many churches have only one vision--survival.  This is not adequate.  As leaders, we must articulate a vital shared vision that will empower our congregations to move forward no matter the circumstances. 

Second, understanding.  Uncertainty can be met with understanding.  This comes only from taking the time to listen to your staff, your lay leaders, and your colleagues.  The answers to dealing with our uncertain times will not come for the academy or experts but those on the ground who are grappling with reality.  Leaders must take the time to stop, look and listen.

Third, clarity.  Complexity can be countered with clarity.  Faced with complex situations, effective leaders ask a lot of questions.  They seek to separate the wheat from the chaff, the facts from the suppositions, the fears from the actual dangers.  They keep at this process until they see patterns, opportunities, and answers.

Fourth, agility. The response to ambiguity is agility, the ability not only to see solutions but to lead people to act on them.  In The Agile Church, Dwight Zscheile reminds us that as we embrace new expressions of the Christian mission, we “carry forward the best of earlier traditions, embracing rather than forsaking the wisdom of the past.”  From the beginning, we have been called by God to be a pilgrim people, moving and adapting to fulfill the mission of God in the world. Our heritage can empower us to adapt rather than limiting us.

Vision, understanding, clarity, and agility--these are the attributes that will enable the church to thrive at all times.  Leaders can and must learn to practice all of these.