Even as technology continues to make our lives easier or better, those same technologies will quickly change the world as we know it. Technological advancement has been growing exponentially for years. The rate of advancement is consistently being measured, so the exact percentage isn’t known. As computer scientist and author Ray Kurzweil states: “We won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century—it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate).”
The impacts of those advancements are multifold. There are social, environmental, political and cultural changes. The impacts on the workplace are still evolving.
One outcome of the accelerated pace of technology’s advancement is that it creates an environment of VUCA. What is VUCA? It was originally a military term that has transitioned to a common business acronym: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity.
- Volatility is the rate and recurrence of change. When technology is changing rapidly and often, it causes a volatile situation.
- Uncertainty relates to unpredictability, when there isn’t a high level of confidence in the forecasted impacts and outcomes of technology.
- Complexity refers to having many interdependent factors, any one of which can cause other changes or downstream outcomes. Complex situations are more difficult to analyze to find the best path forward.
- Ambiguity indicates the situation is unclear or not yet defined, which causes decision making to be murky because there isn’t only one right way.
VUCA is any combination of these challenges. VUCA is essentially the intersectionality of how much is known about the situation and how predictable the possible outcomes are.
Each VUCA situation could be different, but there are a few accepted approaches to address it. Building resilience is one traditional approach. Resilience allows us to remain calm and have a positive demeanor when VUCA happens. That calm demeanor and positivity are critical to ensure we can make appropriate decisions, rationalize outcomes and understand the cumulative effect of any actions taken. Think of being resilient as owning your personal domain. Even if you can’t control all the VUCA components. The way a person approaches VUCA, or any change, will have an impact on the outcome.
There is a common counseling concept “E + R = O,” which represents the Event + (your) Reaction = Outcome. Essentially, it means that there are things you can’t control (the Event), but your Reaction will have a significant impact on the Outcome. For example, you can’t control an organizational change at work, but you can control how you react to it. Are you going to embrace the change? Find ways to adapt? Rally against the new normal? Proclaim your dissent? Champion a positive mindset? Each of these are possible reactions. But your reaction will impact the outcome—for yourself, and possibly others.
Technology advancements cause transformation. Transformation equates to change. But we know that change—good or bad—drives strong emotions, which can also be good or bad. Other skills, such as soft skills, are important to the success of technological transformations.
Organizations should consider the human aspect of any change: How will employees, vendors, customers, potential customers or analysts react? Understanding potential reactions and anticipating the downstream impacts of change is critical.
Many organizations implement change management processes, project management tools and even strategize the effect on revenue of any new technology (or tool or process). But the knock-on impact must also be analyzed and prepared for.
This is when soft skills (more recently referred to as “power skills” or “people skills”) need to balance any technology transformation. With the rapid advancement of machine learning and artificial intelligence, many employees are concerned about their job security. There is no denying that technology is transforming the way people work. Yet, power skills are still required. Learning and development leaders must recognize that increased power skills can make the technology transformation work for the organization, instead of against their workforce.
There are many power skills that are beneficial in a VUCA situation. Empathy will allow leaders to ease employees into future workflow changes. Emotional intelligence will create better working relationships as employees adjust to their new normal. These types of skills help develop employees who are open to learning something new, seek more information and are ready to succeed. Employees with situational awareness, who are comfortable being uncomfortable and are agile enough to make quick decisions but also can change direction when necessary, will thrive in a VUCA situation.
Many resources are available to help organizations address VUCA. For example, the book “Focused, Fast, and Flexible: Creating Agility Advantage in a VUCA World” by Nick Horney and Tom O’Shea, shares a framework that will help organizations “anticipate, adapt and respond quickly to continuous change.”
Power skills like resilience will balance the inevitable technology transformations when encountering VUCA. Leaders will help employees thrive as they help build the new normal. Resilient organizations will grow through VUCA situations and become stronger and more adaptable. This allows the organization to be in a better position for future technological transformations.
There are many predictions about advancements in technology. However, one thing is certain: The future will continue to be VUCA, and the organizations that prioritize power skills will be able to grow through those situations more effectively and successfully, and likely faster.
