Searching for Serenity in a VUCA-Plus World

Angst and Serenity

Angst can be induced in many ways. There are multiple sources of collective societal anxiety. We often seem to be stranded on a boat that is caught up in the “perfect storm” of societal Angst—especially when we are confronted with a major wave such as COVID-19 (Mura and Bergquist, 2020). I propose that the multiple sources of Angst and the forces that produce the perfect storm can be summarized as VUCA-Plus. The challenges in a VUCA-Plus environment involve determining what is “real” and how one forms beliefs, as well as predicting and making decisions based on beliefs and an assessment of this elusive reality. I further propose that leadership and the offering of expertise in our 21st Century societies has become even more challenging given the big VUCA-Plus waves that are hitting us right now (Weitz and Bergquist, 2024).

Rather than confronting the challenges of VUCA-Plus, we find ourselves in a real (or invented) land of serenity. Instead of volatility (V) we find stability (S). Uncertainty (U) is replaced by Certainty (C). We find SC rather than VU.  This is a world of Simplicity (S) rather than Complexity (C)— while the ambiguity (A) of VUCA-Plus is replaced with clarity (C). Another SC replaces CA. We find a two-fold SC. It is SC².  ²+.  Serenity loves redundancy – and we have it with two SCs! Dwelling in this wonderland, we no longer have to navigate a turbulent environment. Rather there is calm. There is also consistency rather than contradiction. We can add calm and consistency to the world of SC².   We now find the compelling charm of our six aspects of VUCA-Plus in full operation.

Serenity is achieved when these SC²+ conditions converge. SC²+ provides a formula for the achievement of this Serenety. Taken together these six aspects of serenity yields something of a utopian environment.  Stability, certainty, simplicity, clarity, calm and consistency perhaps even offer us a touch of Eden . . .without the snake.

Seeking Serenity

On the surface, serenity does look quite tempting. It reduces Angst and opens the way for fast thinking and facile solutions (Kahneman, 2011). Furthermore, we can readily find serenity in our world—at least over the short term. Over the long-term, however, serenity is often elusive—and if we find serenity in our mid-21^st Century life, it often comes at a cost. Specifically, it comes with costs associated with the distortion of reality, the rigidity of thought and action, and most importantly, the loss of integrity in our relationship with other people and with the social systems of which we are a member.

For instance, Stability requires that we establish strong structures, processes and attitudes. This makes it hard to adjust to the shifting conditions in our mid-21^st Century world. We establish what is equivalent to physical (and psychological) triangles in order to create and maintain stability. However, triangles are not easy to adjust. Unfortunately, our 21^st Century demands agility—which means flexible structures, processes and attitudes. We similarly find that Certainty (the second condition of Serenity) requires rigidity of thought. It is hard to be both certain and creative at the same time, yet the shifting conditions of our mid-century society requires that we be creative. This often means operating in organizational cracks (Stacey,1996) and the intersections between organizations (Johansson, 2004).

Simplicity is an aspect of serenity that requires us to narrow our vision and our criteria of verification. As suggested in the tale about the man who is standing beside the light pole looking for his lost keys (knowing that his keys are not located near the light), so it is that we attempt to find simplicity in our life by standing near the light rather than searching for a problem where it actually resides. Similarly, we search for Clarity by standing at a distance and reconstructing what we are seeing so that it becomes clear. We “fill in” what we don’t see or hear so that everything is comprehensive and meaningful. Jerome Bruner, a noted psychologist, suggests that we go “beyond the information given” (Bruner, 1973). Even more broadly we participate with others in the social construction of reality (Berger and Luckmann, 1966) so that we might see, hear, and understand more “clearly.”