
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal.
It is the courage and strategy to continue that counts.”
A caption online simply reads: “IT’S
THE VUCA WORLD!”
On 20th July, 2020, it was
reported that Amazon.com Inc. shares surged 7.9%; the most since December, 2018
on rising optimism about web shopping trends, and is now up 73% this year
according to Bloomberg. Also, Jeff Bezos added $13 billion to his net worth on
the same 20th July, 2020 which is the largest single day jump for an
individual since the “Bloomberg Billionaires Index” was created in 2012. By our
reckoning, Jeff Bezos and indeed Amazon have leaped out of the “VUCA World.”
The same Bloomberg reported that
companies in Asia Pacific are slashing dividends at the fastest pace in more
than a decade as the coronavirus pandemic upends business plans and clouds the
outlook for earnings while the African Union report projects 20 million job
losses in Africa due to coronavirus pandemic according to Africanews business.
Suffice to state that it’s indeed a VUCA world for many CEOs, businesses and
plethora of employees.
The VUCA world might be real indeed
and poignantly brought to the fore by the present corona virus ravaging the
world and bringing many businesses on bended knees with a most uncertain
outlook in the coming months and may be years. The narrative is that things may
never be the same again for many businesses especially for many CEOs of SMEs
who might just become employees once again.
VUCA is an acronym standing for
“Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous.” The British-Polish sociologist
Zygmunt Bauman in his book “The Liquid Times – Living in the age of
uncertainty” talked about the VUCA environment which is marked by not knowing
what the future holds in store for us and with the sole certainty that in all
likelihood, the world would be different from what is expected. In this
narrative expounded by Bauman and succinctly corroborated by many other scholars
and business Execs, there is a guaranteed certainty that will characterise our
world which is the fact that “Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexities and
Ambiguity” in all spheres of our endeavours is unavoidable though quite
unpredictable in its manifestation; therefore, anyone caught in the VUCA trap
is certainly entrapped in the inability to think beyond the times.
The speed at which knowledge is
created and destroyed continues to grow exponentially and constant innovation
has moved from being a popular mantra to becoming an indispensable requirement
for survival for both organizations and individuals. The sudden volatility in
the business environment and the attendant disruption caused by the present
pandemic and economic downturn has shown that the unprepared business or
organization, the mono-focused organization and the un-adaptive enterprise will
be swept along with the tide and may never survive the pestilence.
However, the VUCA world is a
predictable narrative and the innovative organization should never be caught in
the trap. For example, creative destruction was evident during the industrial
age where machines replaced humans in the work environment and many people
suddenly became jobless. This was a major pointer to the fact that with
constant innovation, consistent thinking and creativity perpetually on the
edge, change will be inevitable and will ultimately define the business
environment. To embrace the reality of a VUCA world, adaptive learning must be
a revolving cast as it will enable us to adjust and survive in an ever-changing
world through dynamic, flexible and incisive way of thinking, by a constant
process of learning, unlearning and relearning.
Another classical example is the
inevitable consequence of artificial intelligence on businesses especially SMEs
which are the primary drivers of growth and development in any thriving and
flourishing economy. While writing in the Business News Daily, Adam Uzialko
enthused that “Many people still associate artificial intelligence with science
fiction dystopias, but that characterisation is waning as artificial
intelligence develops and becomes more commonplace in our daily lives.” Consequently,
the adaptive, prepared, creative and innovative organization’s response to artificial
intelligence should be a rapid adaptation and adoption of this intelligence
into the business process and operations through strategic and creative
“Business Process Redesign or Re-engineering;” else, organizations that choose
to be unresponsive will become inevitable victims.
While speaking at the IMF roundtable
in 2019, Cisco’s John Chambers speculated that up to 40% of businesses won’t
survive into the next decade. Sasha Viasasha in her “Market Musings” in Spoke
supported Chamber’s position by noting that: “This major extinction event is
already underway, and yet, small businesses are overwhelmingly the engines of
growth and innovation. What sets the winners apart? Understanding and mastering
VUCA is key to surviving and even prospering in the new reality of a
decentralized yet globalized economy.”
The ultimate question then begs: How
can businesses especially SMEs move beyond survival to thriving and flourishing
in a VUCA world?
1. Embrace and Leverage
Technology: Technology has both tangible and intangible benefits that
undoubtedly scales a business. In our fast paced world and a world where
everything seems to be virtual and online, being tech-pro guarantees the
desired visibility required and ensures your organizationis in the face of the
customer. It helps you interact with your loyal and potential customers
quickly, helps in efficiency of operations, guarantees improved marketing,
smart customer support system, improve resource management and a plethora of
other advantages.
2. Be Perpetually Innovative
and Resilient: In the first instance, every business is a product of a creative
spark or innovation but that isn’t enough in a fast paced world where knowledge
gets destroyed and recreated at the speed of thought. The truth is that
yesterday’s thinking might be a grave punchline to today’s challenge;
therefore, to remain in focus and in business, continuous innovation with a
perfect understanding of the times and seasons is absolutely
non-negotiable.Resilience which is the ability to recover quickly from
difficulties will be impossible without continuous thinking which births
innovation.
3. Embrace “Business Process
Re-engineering (BPR):” Business is all about end points where the company
delivers to customers the desired values. Sonia Pearson on Tallyfy clearly
posits that “Proper execution of BPR can be a game-changer to any business. If
properly handled, BPR can perform miracles on a failing or stagnating company,
increasing the profits and driving growth.” In its simplest form therefore, BPR
is tearing down what people are used to and creating something new. It is
tinkering with the processes of an organization with the ultimate intent of
improving operational efficiency, driving customer satisfaction, mitigating
imminent and potential threats and risks, guaranteeing quick turnaround,
cutting unnecessary costs and improving the bottom line.
4. Strive for Scalability:
Create business structures that are easy to scale up or scale down. Adopt
flexible business methodologies that can act on new opportunities or cut losses
when necessary. It’s also about the adoption of strategic management and
operational dynamics like co-working spaces, remote teams, open talent markets,
spin-off businesses with market/profit imperatives that can help build a
resilient business while saving money.
5. Learn Business
Tranquillity: What do you do when VUCA hits you headlong or when all seems to
be on the line? When the decisions have been made and business is suddenly
rocked, what should happen next? Learn to detach, unruffled though concerned
and then embrace the uncertainty or volatility.
Be strategic by analysing
the course of your actions with a good grasp of the business environment. Don’t
get caught up in regrets and wrong actions taken but be open to new inflow of
ideas like leveraging a mini support team, new partner (s), outsourcing or
subcontracting as deemed worthwhile. Make plans but be flexible enough to
discard a failing plan in the face of reality. Be business wise by being
willing to shift ground and reinvent yourself when reality beckons and above
all, never swim insistently against the tide.
CONCLUSION
Innovation is the wave of
the future and VUCA is a reality in the future. The smart business therefore must
be consistently adaptive and detached from the gruesome hold of the status-quo
by being fluid, flexible, creatively intelligent and open to leveraging open
market insights and talents as necessary.
VUCA is real but stay afloat like
Amazon and the many other resilient organizations thriving in hard times.
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