Onboarding and Staying: Dealing with VUCA

In recent months, we have gone through several business and organizational transformations.  Some have left the organization amidst these changes, and others have jumped on to the racetrack to be new team members.  One key message we share in orientation is how to approach your first 30 days on the new job:  LISTEN--> LEARN--> ASK.    Within 60 days or so, new hires can transition to an onboarding approach of LISTEN-->LEARN--> ACT!

Being a new employee has many challenges... first and foremost is answering "How do I fit here?"  However, in this digital age, for us to thrive we need not only listen, learn, and ask continually, but we must also be able to adapt, shift and adjust within a dynamically changing world.

Sometimes I hear people talk about and ask when there will be “the new normal” as if they are waiting for a stable state that we’ll transition to, and then live with for a while without disruption.  Not true.  We’re living in a VUCA world now, and will be for the foreseeable future.

I recently was introduced to VUCA by a colleague and it stands for “Volatile Uncertain Complex Ambiguous.”  This concept was developed by the US Military.

We live in a VUCA world!  No matter what industry you may work in, you will experience the volatility of products and customers, the uncertainty in the markets, the complexity of making organizational changes that affect people, and the ambiguity of not knowing what the future may hold.

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 and the chaos and confusion that surround an organization.
A = Ambiguity. The haziness of reality, the potential for misreads, and the mixed meanings of conditions; cause-and-effect confusion.

The bottom line -- most employees and leaders experience VUCA every day.  Leaders have to make decisions in the midst of VUCA.  It is not easy, and I must admit that the things which keep me up at night about work center around the VUCA elements. 

What is necessary then to thrive in a VUCA world?

 I call it TCPC!

• Trust with your boss and others
• Clarity of thinking and communication from above and then to your teams
• Purposefulness (meaning, the work has high value beyond a paycheck)
• Confidence that you and your products and services are world class

Absence of any of these 4 elements create very unstable behaviors, including high turnover.   When there are hidden agendas, lies, and purposefully withholding information, then trust, clarity, purposefulness, and confidence are lost.  An associate will leave the organization.

So how do we thrive in a VUCA world?  We can first accept that this is the “new normal” and stop acting surprised by VUCA environments  (when something changes)— and certainly no complaining!  We increase our Listen, Learn, and Ask approach.  Next we keep working at the little and big things about leading people and managing projects well.  Finally, reframe your thinking .... I am on a great adventure!