8 steps to face a VUCA environment with Design Thinking
Competition increases for us every day as we face new and complete challenges.
Not only the current historical ones, but also on a daily basis as we now live in a connected society where Internet, smartphones, and social media are a must. These rapid advancements in technology create a digital ecosystem where global markets and businesses struggle to succeed. But there are new possibilities to differentiate our business goals and beliefs, as long as we act quickly to identify the opportunities that this new era has to offer.
The new management model called V.U.C.A. (Volatility – Uncertainty – Complexity – Ambiguity), describes our current business world. This term originated with the United States Army War College to describe the conditions resulting from the Cold War. Since then, the VUCA concept has been adopted by companies and organisations in many industries and sectors in order to guide leadership and strategic planning in all business areas. It has even been adapted to create survival skills for employees in companies that are experiencing rapid changes. This has resulted in a much-needed range of new capabilities which leaders use to operate among uncertainty and ambiguity.
Most of the companies now are thinking about how to keep their products updated but with an outdated practice, making them incapable of foreseeing a promising future. The more they cling to their past ways… the more volatile the present market turns out. Altering business models without calculating the consequences affects not only the organisation itself, but its vision as a whole. How much uncertainty are we able to withstand in our business, professional, political, social and even personal environments?
Design Thinking, however, is a prven and repeatable problem-solving method. One of its key goals is focusing on understanding and solving the real needs of today’s users. Design Thinking speaks of perseverance in maintaining a continuous effort to achieve objectives and seek solutions for withstanding difficulties that will arise along the way, as well as the ability to face frustration and adaptability and flexibility, knowing how to overcome and grow in case of adversity. So, it is one of the best allies when applying it in the VUCA environment of organisations.
This scenario of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity inherent in the business world is here to stay, it is the “now” of each and every one of us, and its intensity will increase. Some ideas about this Design Thinking – VUCA dichotomy are:
The agile beats the big one.
Bread for today and hunger for tomorrow. (Companies that work to survive today, without thinking about the future).
Each person is unique (client) and demands differentiation.
Shared leadership. Not pyramid structure.
No one “works for”; now they “work with”.
What we do defines who we are.
Understanding digital revolution in our private lives and how it’s preparing us for the future.
Whoever is aware about our current VUCA business world, has surely come to reflect on the need to make changes in established ways, breaking paradigms and revolutionizing thoughts. Pablo Errejón , CEO of Grupo Guía , explains in his most recent book, “Embrace the Change” (“Abraza el Cambio”) how organisations must be open to embrace new ideas that allow them to innovate. He proposes the reinvention of the traditional advisor towards the neodigital advisor, defining them as individuals with a winning, fierce mentality, eager to learn and reread the reality where they actually sell. It also explains how innovation is the best antidote to a volatile world, starting with unlearning what is known and willing to change, to embrace it! Thus, the mind is opened to the infinite opportunities of knowledge, technologies and digital business models that will help companies stay relevant throughout this changing reality.
Regardless of the industry, you must find other ways to create certainty for your business in order to mitigate VUCA effects inherent in today’s business environment. Leadership must foster the creative potential of employees with new ways of thinking such as Design Thinking and as taught by Grupo Guía’s director: changing our chip, opening up to the new clients and entering in full the digital world. Listed below are 8 ways to innovate and stay ahead of the competition without getting crushed by the global VUCA environment :
Be a Knowmad.
Bet on digital transformation.
Work with Exponential Business methods.
Do not lose sight of the fact that VUCA is an “external saboteur”.
Build a versatile, “light footprint” organisation.
Operate in the VUCA world, without being a victim of the VUCA world.
Being innovative, adaptable and with the capacity for reinvention.
Creating Innovation Centers to be able to adapt as soon as possible to the transformation we are experiencing and to generate new growth opportunities.
It’s well-known that Amazon pushes new code about every 11 minutes. Companies spend about half the time on the Fortune 500 list in comparison to a few decades ago. Moore’s Law stipulates that microchips double in capacity about every two years. New products, services, and even new companies can now be launched instantly for close to zero cost.
The world is changing more rapidly today than at any time in human history. But what does this mean? Why is it important? As executives, leaders, and innovators, why should we care that the marketplace is moving so quickly?
The short answer is simple – survival. Communications, finance, careers, work, money, family, and cultures are adopting new innovations and methodologies at an unprecedented rate. To keep our practices current, we must learn and unlearn. We need to be acquiring new knowledge to adapt to constantly changing circumstances so that we can survive and thrive. But we must also shed those outdated, outmoded, and irrelevant practices at an equal clip.
Our culture has placed a premium on knowledge, especially when it’s relevant to taking care of our concerns or leading organisations. But how do we know when our current knowledge is outdated and no longer useful?
If we’re not able to adapt to new online banking technologies, then we won’t be able to effectively manage our finances. If we’re unaware of the threats facing our children and family, then the family suffers. If our skills are no longer valued by the market, our careers break down.
Not knowing how to invest our time, energy, money, and lost opportunities in a global marketplace that revolves around computer-based tools seriously threatens our ability to take care of ourselves. Understanding and accepting this can mean the difference between life and death.
Being able to adapt to constantly changing situations requires learning and acquiring new knowledge. Learning is the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or learning. What happens when the world changes – a new technology is introduced such as a smartphone, the internet, or productivity applications – is we need to learn new skills to exploit the new possibilities produced from them.
The opposite of learning is “unlearning”. Unlearning is to discard something you’ve learned, especially when it’s a bad habit, or false or outdated information. When the world moves as quickly as it does today, humans not only need to learn new technologies and practices, but also critically examine which knowledge is relevant and useful and discard, or simply forget, outdated and outmoded thinking.
A constant practice of unlearning enables us to challenge underlying assumptions and identify the origins of our beliefs adopted from our education, environment, and upbringing. This leads directly to growth and the replacement of outdated knowledge with new knowledge, behaviours, habits, and skills.
We’ll assert here that competitive knowledge accumulation, coupled with an unlearning practice, leads to critical thinking. In our social-media-soaked world, where information and communication are constant and ubiquitous, critical thinking has deteriorated. But if we want our business, educational, political, and community leaders to guide us into a more prosperous future, critical thinking is compulsory.
As new knowledge and skills are being acquired, and new practices are being deployed, then the old knowledge can be let go. A way to think about letting go is through quitting.
Quitting is a conscious practice of no longer engaging. Humans are creatures of habit, and we love our routines. Letting go of practices that have been cultivated over years (or even decades) might take time. We’ve all heard that old habits die hard.
After we have accepted that our work practices are outdated, we can get to work on identifying new practices and begin to acquire that knowledge. Unlearning requires us to let go of old thinking, but this isn’t possible without replacing that knowledge.
This discovery process, if engaged properly, could uncover both pleasant and unpleasant realities. For instance, you might determine that to live a good life you’ll need to move, switch jobs, or even transition into a new industry. To some, this can be a daunting process. But through this deep probing, you’ll quickly discover that you might not know everything you need to know and some of your thinking might be outdated. Growth will then be possible.
Engaging in a reflection practice with a professional, or with yourself, will open up a space to ask necessary questions. The answers to such questions, such as “what do I believe and why?”, “who am I?”, “how do I know what I know?”, and “where did I acquire these beliefs and knowledge?” will enable a probing exploration.
Working within a group of peers, colleagues, or fellow professionals can also help to develop perspective and hold a mirror up to current beliefs and knowledge. This is not a journey to take alone. An openness and curiosity about what you’ll learn certainly doesn’t hurt either!
The benefits to taking this path are many, not the least of which is a more authentic existence and a richer life experience. Unlearning through a conscious practice unleashes creativity to design new products, services, offers, and business models – critical to the lifeblood of any organisation, economy, or industry. It enables new problem-solving skills, increases curiosity, and bolsters confidence.
Unlearning offers a myriad of benefits that we’ve only touched upon here. Engaging in unlearning allows individuals, teams, and organisations to transform and become more resilient and adaptable. It’s simply how humans have evolved for thousands of years and it’s how humans still evolve today.
