Ambiguity: ‘haziness’ is abundant, 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. Ambiguity concerns the presence of many things and events happening that are quite confusing and often not very easy to observe clearly and consistently. The systemic impact can be great. We can’t trust the accuracy of what we see or hear or what “experts” tell us. There is social constructivism rather than objectivism (Bergquist and Weitz, 2023) At a personal impact. We 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. We are faced with a four-level system and at a personal level we must search for balance and direction which in turn requires ongoing attention.
In describing Turbulence, we turn to a metaphor offered by Peter Vaill (2008), 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).
All four of these subsystems are operating in our current time of pandemic invasion. There is rapid change occurring as the virus rapidly spreads and communities throughout the world are massively impacted. Cyclical change is to be found in the patterned way that COVID-19 enters and spreads in a community—and tragically in the probable way in which the virus will return seasonally (until such time as there is virtually global immunity). We can find stability and non- change in the resistance to new norms and rules in virtually all societies. All of this leads to the growing presence of the fourth subsystem: Chaos. This is to be found not only in the inconsistent way we are each living our lives in response to the virus, but also in the way public policies are being formulated and revised in many countries.
Contradiction: Messages are being delivered all the time that are valid—but they often point in quite different directions. Contradiction concerns the frequent presence of radically different constructions and interpretations of reality and the differing meaning assigning to the reality that is being constructed. At a systems level, credible advice is being offered by people and institutions that can be trusted—but the advice is often inconsistent. Personally, we must be agile—changing change our mind or at least be open to new perspectives and ideas.
Download Article 1K Club
