Leading&Managing in VUCA Times-KCD 171021

LEADING AND MANAGING
IN
VUCA TIMES
Keith C. D’Souza
October 17, 2021
Credit: Grateful acknowledgement of the contribution of Dr. Snehal Shah to this presentation
Courage . Heart
Video: What is VUCA?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqQh9t-VLIY
Courage . Heart
Human Capital Trends , 2021*
*Adapted from : De;loitte Insights, Global Human Capital Trends 2021, https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/human-capital-trends.html
Copyright © 2021 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved. 2021 Global Human Capital Trends 1
Influence of COVID-19 on the labor market
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,

an estimated 2.7 billion people, or more
than four out of five workers in the
global workforce, have been affected by
lockdowns and stay at home measures Business and government leaders have
been challenged to both respond to the
crisis quickly and rethink their workforce
In 2020 the global unemployment rate strategies in real time
increased by 1.1 percentage points to
6.5 percent. Most low- and medium-
skilled workers lost their jobs in
comparison to high-skilled workers
Sources: ILO: COVID-19 causes devastating losses in working hours and employment; International Labor Organization Monitor
Past year proved that, when faced with an
unprecedented crisis, organizations and workers are
capable of tremendous resilience
They can adapt.

They can pivot.
They can survive.
In a world of perpetual disruption, surviving is not enough
Surviving
A survival mindset views disruptions as point-in-time

crises to be addressed with the expectation that the
organization will revert to “business as usual” once the
crisis is over
It’s about doing what’s necessary to succeed today
Transition to thriving?
Thriving
A thrive mindset recognizes that disruption is continuous

rather than episodic and embraces disruption as a catalyst
to drive the organization forward
It’s about doing what’s possible, not just to succeed today,

but also to dominate tomorrow
2020 showed us that, in face of disruption, the static path and
point in time solutions are no longer effective
Point A
2020 showed us that, in face of disruption, the static path and
point in time solutions are no longer effective
And where we thought we had years to
rethink outdated views and establish
new norms, we needed to make
Point B
changes in months, weeks and even
days
Point A
What are the key characteristics organizations need to
shift from survive to thrive?
We surveyed 6,000 business and HR leaders from 99 countries, seeking to

understand how the crisis influenced executives’ and organizations’ ability to
navigate future disruption
Our 2021 Global Human Capital Trends report is a fresh look at the key trends
highlighted in the 2020 report, taking into account the changes that have taken
place in the world
The shift from survive to thrive depends on an organization’s
becoming and remaining distinctly human
Remaining
distinctly human
This is not just a different way of
thinking and acting. It’s a different
way of being, one that approaches
every question, every issue, and
every decision from a
human angle first, because
everything that the organization
does is done by people and for
people
Last year, we introduced three attributes to help social enterprises
remain distinctly human
Humans
Purpose Potential Perspective
Technology
Purpose
Potential
Perspective
Humanizing work through PURPOSE
PURPOSE IS THE NORTH STAR IN A WORLD DISRUPTED
This common set of values doesn’t depend on circumstances, so it

allows organizations to sift through competing priorities, unite
workers under common goals, drive belonging and well-being and
focus energy and resources on the most pressing needs
Humanizing work through POTENTIAL
POTENTIAL ALLOWS ORGANIZATIONS TO CAPITALIZE ON HUMAN CAPABILITIES

This means looking beyond static role descriptions and capitalizing
on what workers and teams can achieve. By trusting workers to
bring creativity and initiative to their jobs, organizations can
leverage human ingenuity to attain new speed and agility
Humanizing work through PERSPECTIVE
PERSPECTIVE ALLOWS ORGANIZATIONS TO RE-ARCHITECT WORK

Perspective challenges organizations re-architect work around human
strengths and capabilities. By re-architecting work, organizations can use
disruption as a launching pad to imagine new possibilities and
opportunities
Drivers, Effects & Demands of VUCA world
The diagram below summarises the drivers and effects of a VUCA world and the demands it places on us.
https://www.lifeleadershipproject.com/archived-articles/are-you-ready-for-a-vuca-world/
Courage . Heart
Leadership Competencies for a VUCA World
Groups were asked to come up with words they felt best described their institutions’ response to each VUCA. These
were then analysed for frequency and weight to develop word clouds and the most frequent word per VUCA
category identified:
https://www.ucea.ac.uk/news-releases/blog/19may20/
Courage . Heart
VUCA approach
• Volatility Challenges: So much is changing so rapidly.

Only a few weeks ago, we were in our offices meeting
with co-workers or traveling to see clients.
• Uncertainty Challenges: It is difficult to predict what will
change and in what ways. When will the way we do
business return to “normal” and what will “normal”
look like?
• Complexity Challenges: There are an overwhelming
number of moving parts. Leaders are forced to make
plans for operations, sales, marketing, supply, and
distribution in a rapidly changing and complicated
market that is in free fall.
• Ambiguity Challenges: There are too many unknown
unknowns. We don’t even know what we don’t know
right now.
https://designcenterideas.com/leading-during-pandemic-playbook/
Courage . Heart
Some known examples, published by Rueters.com:
• Coca-Cola confirmed that its supply chain could be disrupted in the long term because it
depends on suppliers in China for certain sweeteners added to its diet and zero sugar
drinks.
• Starbucks has closed more than half of its 4,300 stores in China and delayed a planned
update to its 2020 financial forecast, saying it expects, “a material, but temporary hit”.
• Estée Lauder warned that the outbreak would hurt its financial results “in the near term,”
predicting that sales in the third quarter of 2020 would be the most affected. The spread of
the virus has slowed air travel and tourism, reducing store traffic in major global shopping
areas.
• Nissan temporarily closed factories outside China because they couldn’t get parts.
• Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, told analysts that supplies may be disrupted and
that some Apple suppliers would remain closed. Also, Apple’s manufacturing partner in
China, Foxconn, is facing a production delay.
• Hyundai Motor said it would suspend production in South Korea due to the outbreak
disrupting parts supply, the first major automaker to do so outside China.
https://abmsystems.com/planning-for-a-vuca-world-post-coronavirus/
Courage . Heart
21st Century Leadership requirements
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/leading-in-a-vuca-world.html
Courage . Heart
What Skills Will Leaders Need in the Future?
Turn VUCA Around
Leaders in the future will need to have Vision, Understanding, Clarity,
and Agility. Johansen notes that the VUCA acronym can be turned
around to a more positive framing of effective leadership:
➢Volatility leads to Vision.

➢Uncertainty yields to Understanding.
➢Complexity yields to Clarity.
➢Ambiguity yields to Agility.
https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/leadership-skills-for-an-uncertain-world/
Courage . Heart
Video Links
• VUCA Environments
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=257&v=rLOLdTjdnsY&feat
ure=emb_logo
• The World of VUCA Series: Introduction to the "World of V.U.C.A."
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1VJoifaTZY
Courage . Heart

Leading&Managing in VUCA Times-KCD 171021

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Leading&Managing in VUCA Times-KCD 171021

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

LEADING AND MANAGING

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,

They can adapt.

A survival mindset views disruptions as point-in-time

It’s about doing what’s necessary to succeed today

A thrive mindset recognizes that disruption is continuous

It’s about doing what’s possible, not just to succeed today,

We surveyed 6,000 business and HR leaders from 99 countries, seeking to

Purpose Potential Perspective

PURPOSE IS THE NORTH STAR IN A WORLD DISRUPTED

This common set of values doesn’t depend on circumstances, so it

POTENTIAL ALLOWS ORGANIZATIONS TO CAPITALIZE ON HUMAN CAPABILITIES

PERSPECTIVE ALLOWS ORGANIZATIONS TO RE-ARCHITECT WORK

• Volatility Challenges: So much is changing so rapidly.

➢Volatility leads to Vision.

You might also like