Complexity
Complexity entails the multiplex of forces, the apparently inconsistent information flow, the sensitive interdependence of everything we touch, leading to the sense of confusion in which it’s hard to make smart decisions, steeped as we are in the moving dance of reality. It concerns the presence of many different things and events that simultaneously impact life and work.
Systemic impact: very hard to make sense of or even find meaning in that which is occurring every day. Slow thinking rather than fast thinking
Personal impact: must often spend considerable amount of time trying to figure out what is happening before making decisions or taking actions.
Ambiguity
Ambiguity is the ‘haziness’ in which cause-and-effect are hard to attribute, relativity seems to trump established rules, weighing heavily on our ability to hold inconsistent data and still function and make choices. It concerns the presence of many things and events happening that are quite confusing and often not very easy to observe clearly and consistently.
Systemic impact: can’t trust accuracy of that which we see or hear or what “experts” tell us. Social constructivism rather than objectivism
Personal impact: often must look and listen a second and third time to ensure that what is seen or heard is accurate.
The Additional VUCA-Plus Challenges
We add two other challenges: turbulence and contradiction. They are both interwoven in the fabric of VUCA and add a further layer of challenge to that now being faced by us in our mid-21st Century society.
Turbulence
Some things are moving rapidly, while other things are moving in a cyclical manner, not moving at all or moving in a chaotic manner.
Systemic Impact: four subsystems are operating at the same time. Nature of the “white water” world.
Personal impact: requires a search for balance and direction which in turn requires ongoing attention.
In describing Turbulence, we turn to a metaphor offered by Peter Vaill, who suggests that we are living in a “white water” world. We propose that this whitewater world represents a turbulent system. Furthermore, this whitewater system incorporates four subsystems that are exemplified by the properties of a turbulent stream: (1) rapid change (flowing segment of the stream), (2) cyclical change (the stream’s whirlpools), (3) stability/non-change (the “stagnant” segment of the stream), and (4) chaos (the segment of a stream existing between the other three segments).
Download Article 1K Club
